Marc Pugh

He scored his first goal for Shrewsbury on his return in a 4–0 home victory over Dagenham & Redbridge, turning in a Marc Tierney cross in the 78th minute before assisting Tierney for Shrewsbury's final goal.

Bury were entangled in a relegation battle, and Pugh made his debut two days later after coming on as an 80th-minute substitute in a 2–1 home win over Rochdale.

He made his debut for Kidderminster after coming on as an 86th-minute substitute in a 3–1 defeat to Stevenage Borough.

He converted a Simon Heslop cross during a match against Dagenham & Redbridge to score his first career goal, which helped Kidderminster to a 3–1 victory.

Also, during a match he displayed a smart piece of skill which involved flicking the ball over an opponent's head with his heel, then crossing the ball in for a teammate to score; this move was featured on Soccer AM's showboating section.

Marc Anthony Pugh (born 2 April 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger or attacking midfielder.

He has played in the English Football League and Premier League for Bury, Shrewsbury Town, Luton Town, Hereford United, AFC Bournemouth and Hull City.

Pugh started his career with Burnley, where he progressed through the youth system.

Pugh started his career with First Division club Burnley where, at a young age, he started as a Centre of Excellence player, and gradually worked his way up through the ranks to become an apprentice in 2003.

As a first year apprentice he played for the youth and reserve teams and due to his great goalscoring record, which led to him being named on the bench for two first-team matches in the League Cup, they decided to keep him on for a third year.

As a third year apprentice he scored 15 goals for the club's reserve and youth team.

This led to him to being loaned out to Kidderminster Harriers of the Conference National in November 2005 to play first team football.

He returned to Burnley on 13 December 2005 after picking up a groin injury, but returned to Kidderminster for a second loan spell on 7 January 2006.

He finished the 2005–06 season by playing six matches and scoring one goal for the club.

He was released by the club having made his first-team debut while on loan at Kidderminster Harriers and signed a short-term contract with Bury in 2006.

This spell ended on 26 January 2006 so Pugh could concentrate on his career at Burnley, having made 10 appearances and scored 1 goal while at Kidderminster.

He learned that he would not receive a professional contract at Burnley in February 2006, which was partly because both Chris McCann and Kyle Lafferty had both already received professional contracts and they were only second year apprentices.

Having just been released from Burnley, Pugh signed for League Two club Bury on a short-term contract on 23 March 2006, following a three-week trial.

He marked his first start for Bury with a goal from 10 yards in a 1–1 away draw with Lincoln City on 15 April 2006, after which manager Chris Casper commented "Mark's a good player and he's got a bright future if he keeps his feet on the ground".

Pugh was a regular first-team player in 2006–07, playing particularly well in the first half of the season, and was offered an extended contract at the club in January 2007.

Pugh finished 2006–07 with 41 appearances and 4 goals for Bury; they finished in 21st place in League Two.

Pugh later signed a professional contract at the club and after rejecting an extended contract in 2007 he signed for Shrewsbury Town.

Pugh rejected this in February 2007, saying he "wanted to keep his options open".

Casper revealed his disappointment at this and Pugh later said financial reasons were his motivation to reject a new contract.

He was offered renewed contracts throughout the season but still took none of them, which Casper blamed on his agent.

With many clubs interested in his services, Pugh signed for fellow League Two club Shrewsbury Town on 29 May 2007 for a compensation fee.

Shrewsbury manager Gary Peters revealed that he had already attempted to sign him earlier in the season as part of a swap deal when striker Glynn Hurst moved to Bury.

He made his debut in a 4–0 away win over Lincoln City, setting up Andy Cooke for the third goal with a cross.

He suffered an injury in November 2007 and underwent a scan, which was believed to be a cartilage problem.

Days after discovering the results of the scan, which revealed he was suffering from acute tendinitis, he returned to training.

He was loaned out to Luton Town and Hereford United, joining the latter permanently in 2009.

Pugh left Hereford after one season to sign for Bournemouth in 2010, where he was top scorer in his first two seasons.

He has since made over 300 appearances for the club, helping them win promotion to the Championship in 2013 and the Premier League two years later.

As a result, Pugh has played and scored in all five of England's nationwide football divisions.

After a spell on loan with Hull City, he was released by Bournemouth in 2019 before joining Queens Park Rangers.

Pugh was born in Bacup, Lancashire, to Tony and Denise.

He grew up in Stacksteads and attended All Saints' Catholic High School, Rawtenstall.

He is married to Laura, with whom he has two daughters.

Pugh is a devout Christian.

As a result of his good performances, and helped by the fact that Bury had survived relegation in 19th place, Bury manager Chris Casper offered him a new one-year contract at Gigg Lane; his first professional contract.