qualify. At the end of the 1973–74 season, Liverpool reached the FA Cup final and beat Newcastle United 3–0, with Hughes receiving the trophy from The Princess Anne. Later that month Hughes was also appointed England captain, replacing Bobby Moore, by caretaker boss Joe Mercer. Hughes led out England for the first time on 11 May 1974 against Wales in Cardiff, which England won 2–0. 1975 Hughes captained England for all of Mercer's seven games in charge, and initially maintained the role when Don Revie was appointed as Ramsey's permanent successor. However, after the first two qualifiers for the 1976 European Championships, Revie dropped Hughes from the team, giving the captaincy to Hughes' former Blackpool teammate Alan Ball. With Liverpool under the guidance of Bob Paisley following Shankly's retirement in 1974, Hughes focused on club football. Liverpool won no honours in Paisley's first season in charge but achieved another League championship and UEFA Cup double in 1976. 1977 The 1976–77 season began with a shock recall to England by Don Revie, who played Hughes in the second qualifier for the 1978 World Cup, under national captain and clubmate Kevin Keegan. Hughes was now predominantly a central defender and played in a tactically disastrous team against Italy in Rome, which marked the lowest point of Revie's tenure as England manager. England lost 2–0. Revie selected Hughes for further games through the early part of 1977, during which time Liverpool sought an unprecedented treble of League Championship, FA Cup and European Cup. They won the title but lost the FA Cup final to bitter rivals Manchester United. Four days later, Hughes captained Liverpool to a 3–1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach in Rome to win the 1977 European Cup Final, the first time the team won Europe's most prestigious club title. He was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. 1978–1979 Revie gave Hughes the England captaincy back for a Home International match against Scotland when Keegan was unavailable, before selecting him for the squad which would tour South America in the summer. On returning to England, Ron Greenwood took over as England manager, returning the captaincy to Hughes. England could not qualify for the World Cup after a defeat by Italy, but Hughes nonetheless celebrated a 50th cap when England beat the Italians 2–0 in the final qualifier at Wembley at the end of 1977. In 1978, Hughes was in