Ernie Hunt

Football player infobox2
playername = Ernie Hunt


fullname = Roger Patrick Hunt
nickname = "Ernie"
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1943|3|17
cityofbirth = Swindon
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=5|in=7
position = Striker
youthyears = 1957–1960
youthclubs = Swindon Town
years = 1960–1965
1965–1967
1967
1967–1968
1968–1973
1973
1973–1974
clubs = Swindon Town
Wolverhampton Wanderers
→ Los Angeles Wolves (guest)
Everton
Coventry City
→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)
Bristol City
caps(goals) = 212 0(82)
074 0(32)
010 00(-)
014 00(3)
146 0(45)
009 00(1)
012 00(2)
nationalyears = 1963–1966
nationalteam = England Under-23
nationalcaps(goals) = 003 00(0)

Roger Patrick "Ernie" Hunt (born March 17 1943 in Swindon) is an English former football player. He was known as "Ernie" - due to his father's name of Ernest - to avoid confusion with fc|Liverpool and England striker Roger Hunt.

Career

Hunt was working for British Rail when he was spotted by Swindon Town in 1957. He progressed through their youth ranks and signed professional forms in March 1960. He made his debut on 15 September 1959 in a 3-0 defeat at fc|Grimsby Town, which marked him as Swindon's youngest ever player, aged 16 years 182 days.

He finished as the club's top goalscorer for four consecutive seasons, and helped them win promotion to the Second Division in 1963. He also won a call-up to the England Under-23 side in 1963, going on to win 3 caps in total. Swindon were relegated at the end of the 1964/65 campaign though, and Hunt soon left to join Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 1965.

Here, he won promotion to the top flight in 1966/67 as their leading goalscorer (with 20 goals) and was also part of the Wolves squad who guested as the Los Angeles Wolves in Summer 1967, winning the United Soccer Association.

However, he made just six outings in the First Division with Wolves before joining Everton for £80,000 in September 1967. His time at Goodison Park was short-lived as he failed to settle, making just 12 appearances before a £60,000 transfer to Coventry City in March 1968, just six months after arriving.

The striker was a fans favourite during his five-year spell at Coventry and scored one of the most famous goals of English football history in October 1970, ironically against his former club Everton. During the game, his teammate Willie Carr took a free kick by gripping the ball between his ankles and flicking it up for Hunt to volley home. As the match was televised on Match of the Day the goal gained huge fame, but the move was outlawed at end of the season. As it was the flick-up which made the goal unique, it is known as the "Willie Carr goal" even though it was scored by Hunt.

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

After retiring from the game, he ran a pub in Ledbury, later becoming a window cleaner in the same town. He now lives in Gloucester.