Ernie Hunt

Roger Patrick "Ernie" Hunt (17 March 1943 – 20 June 2018) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Swindon Town, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Coventry City, Doncaster Rovers and Bristol City,[1] and for the Los Angeles Wolves in the United Soccer Association. At international level, he was capped three times for the England under-23 team. He was known as "Ernie" – a contraction of Ernest, his father's name – to avoid confusion with Liverpool and England striker Roger Hunt. In 1971 he was the winner of the inaugural BBC Goal of the Season award.

Ernie Hunt
Personal information
Full name Roger Patrick Hunt
Date of birth (1943-03-17)17 March 1943
Place of birth Swindon, England
Date of death 20 June 2018(2018-06-20) (aged 75)
Place of death Gloucestershire, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s) Inside forward
Youth career
1957–1959 Swindon Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1959–1965 Swindon Town 214 (82)
1965–1967 Wolverhampton Wanderers 74 (32)
1967 → Los Angeles Wolves 10 (4)
1967–1968 Everton 14 (3)
1968–1973 Coventry City 146 (45)
1973 → Doncaster Rovers (loan) 9 (1)
1973–1974 Bristol City 12 (2)
1974–? Atherstone Town
Ledbury Town
Total 479+ (169+)
National team
1963–1966 England U23 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Swindon, Hunt was working for British Rail when he was signed as an amateur by Swindon Town in 1957.[2] He progressed through their youth ranks, made his debut on 15 September 1959 in a 3–0 defeat in the Third Division at Grimsby Town, which made him Swindon's youngest ever first-team player, aged 16 years 182 days, a record which stood until 1980, and signed professional forms in March 1960.[3]

He finished as the club's top goalscorer for four consecutive seasons, and helped them win promotion to the Second Division in 1963.[3] Hunt made his debut for the England under-23 team on 2 June 1963 in a 1–0 defeat to their Romanian counterparts, the first of three caps he won at that level.[4] Swindon were relegated at the end of the 1964–65 campaign, and Hunt left to join Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 1965, for a fee of £40,000, which was at the time Swindon's record transfer receipt.[5] In all competitions, he scored 88 goals from 237 games for Swindon.[3]

Hunt was Wolves' leading scorer with 20 goals as they won promotion to the First Division in 1966–67,[2] and was part of the Wolves squad who, playing as the Los Angeles Wolves, won the 1967 United Soccer Association title.[6][7] However, he made just six outings in the top flight for Wolves before the club sold him to Everton for £80,000 in September 1967. His time at Goodison Park was short-lived as he failed to settle,[8] making only 12 appearances before a £65,000 transfer to Coventry City in March 1968, just six months after arriving.[9]

The striker was a fans' favourite during his five-year spell at Coventry and scored one of the most famous goals in English football history in October 1970, against his previous team Everton. Awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area, Willie Carr gripped the ball between his heels and flicked it up for Hunt to volley home. The match was televised on BBC's Match of the Day, and the goal was awarded the programme's Goal of the Season, so gained huge fame.[10] The move was outlawed at the end of the season.[11][12][13]

He spent a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers before leaving Coventry to join Bristol City, where he ended his league career in the 1973–74 season.[14] He subsequently served a number of non-League clubs.[5]

Life after football

After retiring from the game, he did a variety of jobs, including running a pub in Ledbury, Herefordshire, called The Full Pitcher and window cleaning. In 2008, he was living in Gloucester.[8]

Hunt died on 20 June 2018 aged 75 in a care home. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease.[15][16]

Honours

References
  1. "Ernie Hunt". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  2. "Old Gold". The Wolves Site. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  3. "Ernie Hunt". Swindon-Town-FC. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  4. Courtney, Barrie (27 March 2004). "England – U-23 International Results- Details". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 13 April 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  5. "Ernie Hunt Factfile". Swindon Advertiser. 3 January 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  6. "North American Soccer League Rosters Los Angeles Wolves". NASL Jerseys. Dave Morrison. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  7. Holroyd, Steve. "The Year in American Soccer – 1967". The American Soccer History Archives. Dave Litterer. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  8. "The Mad, Mad World of Ernie Hunt". Wolves Heroes. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  9. Brown, Jim (17 January 2008). "Top flight dazzlers: The greatest Coventry City player ever". Coventry Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  10. "Ernie Hunt: 'Donkey kick' scorer for Coventry City dies aged 75". BBC Sport. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  11. Green, Geoffrey (5 October 1970). "Carr's sleight of foot baffles league champions". The Times. p. 13. It was a real circus trick, almost a whodunit, which had the whole company on their feet cheering their heads off which the sheer audacity and unexpectedness of it all.
  12. Brown, Jim (6 October 2001). "Hunt conjures moment of magic destined for immortality" (reprint). The Times. NewsBank. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  13. Edbrooke, David (1 February 2008). "The 25 best free-kicks of all-time". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  14. "Ernie Hunt Coventry City FC". Football Heroes. Sporting Heroes Collections. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  15. "Ernie Hunt 1943-2018". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 21 June 2018.
  16. "Coventry City saddened to learn of the death of Ernie Hunt". Coventry City F.C. 21 June 2018.
  17. "Coventry City | Club | History | History | Hall of Fame". 22 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2015.

Further reading
  • Westcott, Chris (2004). Joker in the pack : the Ernie Hunt story. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-3271-0.
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