Mixed emotions for Crystal Palace forward Hughes as team celebrate title win | OneFootball

Crystal Palace forward Elise Hughes admitted that it was a day of mixed emotions as the team collected the Barclays Women’s Championship trophy at Selhurst Park.

The Eagles drew 0-0 with Sunderland on the final day of the season to officially secure the league title. Hughes had to watch the game from the stands after recently rupturing her Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL).

When speaking to the media after the match, Hughes admitted that she was filled with mixed emotions given the devastation caused by her injury and pure elation brought by Crystal Palace’s title win.

“It’s been one of the hardest days of my life but I couldn’t be more proud,” Hughes said. “It’s also turned out to be one of the happiest days of my life as well.

“I’m so proud of the girls for going out there and getting the job done. I had no doubt in my mind that they’d do that because they’ve been class all year. The whole team, the staff, the players, I wouldn’t want to be part of any other group.

“Obviously, we’ve ended up being the winners and that’s an added bonus. This team are great.”

Hughes claimed the Barclays Women’s Championship’s Golden Boot after netting 16 goals while teammate Annabel Blanchard was the league’s third-highest scorer with 11. Hughes hailed her partnership with Blanchard, although she said that the full team deserves to share the credit.

She said “We had a brief spell together at Blackburn but one of us was injured. To be back on the pitch with Annabel has been class. She’s an unbelievable player, we know that in house and the league know that. We spoke the other week about getting to 40 goals and assists between us and then I go and get injured. I told her that she can have a six-month head start next season then I’ll catch her up again.

“She’s an unbelievable player, just as every player is in this dressing room. As attackers, we push each other but we couldn’t have done it without anyone. We’ve scored a lot of goals between the two of us but we couldn’t have done it without the rest and that’s how it is here.”

Reflecting back on her journey this season, Hughes said that she would have taken the upset of sustaining a long-term injury if it  meant celebrating on-field success for herself and the entire Crystal Palace family come the end of the campaign.

“I said in the changing room before the game that if you had wrote my story at the start of the year and said to me ‘this is how your season is going to end’, as upsetting as it was for me personally, I would’ve taken it,” Hughes said.

“Every person in there means more to me than my right knee at the minute. The amount of people that are happy because of this trophy means more to me than what I’m about to go through. The reason that I’m about to go through it with such a brave face is because of the amount of people I have right behind me. I couldn’t do it without them, I couldn’t have done it this year without them and I can’t do it next year without them.”

Hughes is preparing to undergo surgery on her injury before beginning her rehabilitation. She is expected to return to action in early 2025.