Born in Kilcar, County Donegal, McHugh played Gaelic football with his local club Cill Chartha and was a member of the Donegal senior inter-county team between 1981 and 1994. McHugh wore the number 13 jersey for the 1983 Ulster Senior Football Championship final against Cavan. However, he played at centre-forward as Charlie Mulgrew had sustained a broken jaw in the semi-final victory over Monaghan. McHugh contributed 0–7 of Donegal's 1–14, though was denied the man of the match award. McHugh spent time in hospital with a punctured lung after the 1983 final. He won his first All Star Award later that year. He was a replacement All Star in 1990 and made the trip to both coasts of the United States. Shortly after his return, the 1990 Ulster Senior Football Championship got underway. McHugh had a groin injury and could not play in the quarter-final win over Cavan. He returned for the semi-final win over Derry. He then played against Armagh and scored four points in the 1990 Ulster final, won by Donegal. He then played in Donegal's All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Meath. He was so poor he was substituted. He later said himself: "That was a bad day. It was one of them games. It was one of them games where the game just bypassed me. I never got into the game, I don't exactly know what happened." In a restaurant in Cavan on the way back, someone came over and rubbed salt into his wounds by saying: "Where was your famous Martin McHugh today?", seemingly oblivious to McHugh's presence. McHugh later became an All-Ireland winner with Donegal in 1992. He also won his second All Star Award that year and was voted 1992 Player of the Year. In total he won three Ulster senior titles with Donegal: 1983, 1990 and 1992. His brother, James, also played in the 1992 All-Ireland Final and received an All Star in 1992, while his son Mark has won two Ulster Senior Football Championships and one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship with Donegal. Mark was born the Wednesday after Martin McHugh's Donegal side were defeated by Meath in the semi-final of the 1990 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. His son Ryan has also played for the Donegal in the minor team.
Management career
McHugh wanted to take charge of Donegal after 1992 All-Ireland manager Brian McEniff left the job. However, he was prevented from doing so by the Donegal County Board in a snub that would later be echoed in Jim McGuinness's numerous later attempts to get the same job—McGuinness was, however, ultimately successful; after being rejected by the Donegal County Board on several occasions he would go on to be Donegal's most successful manager ever. McHugh was hurt by his rejection, saying: "I thought there was another All-Ireland in Donegal and that's why I went for that job. I thought there was another All-Ireland there, and there was a lot of good players coming too. But anyway, that's the way it worked out". McHugh later took over as manager of Cavan in 1996. In 1997, he helped Cavan reclaim the Ulster Senior Football Championship after 28 years. He also led Sligo IT to Sigerson Cup success. He declined the Donegal job in 2008, telling BBC Sport "I don't have the time".
Media career
McHugh currently works as a GAA pundit for BBC Television and Radio and he writes for the Irish Daily Star newspaper. In 2012, as Donegal surged towards their second All-Ireland success, McHugh started appearing on The Sunday Game on RTÉ. He was on the programme the night Donegal won the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. At the end of the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, with McHugh on the sideline working for BBC television coverage of the game, his son Mark, part of the victorious Donegal team, ran to embrace him. Martin McHugh burst into tears as the full extent of what had happened hit him. The emotional moment, as Martin recalled the death of his father Jim the previous October and his mother Kathleen's Alzheimer's, was beamed around the globe and became one of the iconic images of the victory. In 2013, he called for change to the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and claimed that the back door only helped stronger counties such as his own. In 2014, McHugh described the Kerry forward, Colm Cooper as a "two-trick pony". McHugh's comments were badly received by many in The Kingdom.
Political career
McHugh has been involved in the politics of the game.
Career statistics
Honours
Player
;Donegal
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship: 1992
Ulster Senior Football Championship: 1983, 1990, 1992
In May 2020, the Irish Independent named McHugh as one of the "dozens of brilliant players" who narrowly missed selection for its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years".
