Roger Hunt, who died on Tuesday age 83, is the eighth member of the 1966 England team to leave us. The Liverpool legend was considered a shy person, but what a striker he was.
Hunt will be remembered not for his scoring feats at Liverpool, but for that 66 final. The former Liverpool striker graciously didn’t apply a finishing touch to Geoff Hurst’s shot that came off the crossbar. He was convinced that it had crossed the line.
Eleven years on Merseyside for Hunt
His successful stay at Anfield lasted eleven years. During that time he helped the club rise from the doldrums of the second division to dominate English football in the top tier.
Hunt became the second highest scorer for the Reds in their history with 244 goals in 404 appearances. Amazingly, he was never dropped in his time at Liverpool.
Started his football career at Stockton Heath
The Liverpool Legend started his footballing career at non-league side Stockton Heath, who are now known as Warrington Town. He made such an impression at Stockton that Liverpool came in for his services to sign him on his 20th birthday.
It took Hunt a little while to break into the first team, but at the age of 21 he was given his first team debut. The very next season manager Bill Shankley began a clear out of the club, but kept Hunt on.
After a successful spell with Liverpool which spanned eleven years, Hunt moved across Lancashire to Bolton Wanderers. A four year stint yielding 24 goals in 76 appearances. Back in August of 1964 Hunt scored the first ever goal seen on BBC’s Match of the Day.
A star in an England shirt
At international level, Hunt wore the England shirt on 34 appearances over seven years, scoring 18 times. In the historic 66 World Cup winning side he played every minute of England’s campaign, scoring three times.
Despite taking his coaching badges, he decided that he wasn’t suited to management and re-joined his family firm.
Hunt was awarded an MBE in 2000 and was affectingly known as “Sir Roger. An appropriate title to a man who will always be known as a true gentleman. Roger Hunt RIP