McHugh picks up MOTM award as he prepares for whistlestop New Year's return home

Carl McHugh will touch base with home via zoom on Christmas Day but the Leitirmacaward native’s main festive aim was to make sure FC Goa remain on coarse for the Indian Super League title. 

McHugh and his teammates notched their seventh win of their campaign at the weekend, with a 4-1 victory over his former team Mohun Bagan, extending their unbeaten start to nine matches as they remain three points clear of Kerala Blazers. 

With 23 points, they remain on the top of pile and will hope to close out the first half of their season this coming Friday, when they go to NorthEast United FC. 

Following that encounter, The ISL takes a mid-season break and the former Motherwell skipper will finally get back home to Donegal. 

“It’s my fifth season now and when I first came here, I didn’t see myself staying that long,” McHugh told the Irish Independent. 

“I have had offers to come back to the UK, but I love it out here. I would definitely recommend it to Irish players looking for something new, something different, as my own experience has only been positive.

“In Ireland, we are obsessed with England and Scotland when it comes to football, but there is another world out there.

“There are tough parts to it. You make sacrifices being so far away from home. This year, I am away for Christmas again, but it’s been like that for me since I left Ireland at 16. You get on with it.”

He added: “Every away game is at least one flight. We have Kolkata away on December 23, a three-hour flight, then it’s back to Goa and on to Guwahati on the 29th (five-hour flight). 

“I have a few days off after that game on the 29th. I will get a week at home. It’s a long commute from Guwahati to Donegal and I used to think the coach trips in England were long,” he laughed.

“I am 30 now and I won’t have this lifestyle forever, but I feel fortunate to have had the career I did. I will have plenty of time for the Donegal Christmas when I stop playing, but I’m happy to make the sacrifice now.”