John Hunting

infobox football official
name = John Hunting


fullname = John Hunting
dateofbirth = c. 1936
cityofbirth = Leicester
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
otheroccupation = University lecturer
years = 1968-1984
league = Football League
role = Referee
internationalyears = 1973-1983
confederation = FIFA listed
internationalrole = Referee

John Hunting (born c. 1936) is an English former football referee who operated in the Football League and for FIFA. During his time on the List he was based in Leicester, where he worked as a university lecturer.

Career

Hunting became a Football League referee at the age of only 32. Four years later he was senior linesman during the 1972 FA Cup Final, and it took only one more year for him to reach the FIFA List.

His eleven years on the international panel is a very long spell by English standards, as England tends to promote its referees to that level later than most other countries.fact|date=August 2007 He refereed regularly abroad, including two European Championships qualifying games - Holland against Switzerland on March 28 1979, [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/history/season=1980/round=199/match=3522/index.html 1980 European Championships qualifier] , Holland v. Switzerland, 1979: UEFA.com website.] and the USSR versus Portugal on April 27 1983. [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/history/season=1984/round=205/match=3350/index.html 1984 European Championships qualifier] , USSR v. Portugal, 1983: UEFA.com website.] He also took charge of the FIFA World Cup qualifying match for the 1982 tournament between Nigeria and Tunisia on July 12 1980. [ [http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~nfm24/football/1980af.html 1982 World Cup qualifier] , Nigeria v. Tunisia, 1980: "srcf.ucam.org" statistical website.]

Domestically, he was appointed to Home International Championship matches, such as the meeting between Northern Ireland and Scotland at Windsor Park, Belfast, on April 28 1982. [ [http://www.playerhistory.com/Default.aspx?page=match_details&matchID=841731 Home Internationals] , Northern Ireland v. Scotland, 1982: "PlayerHistory.com" website.]

His most senior European club game was the European Cup quarter-final second leg between Baník Ostrava and Bayern Munich in 1981. However, it was only at the very end of his career in 1984 that he was awarded the FA Cup Final. This was his farewell match, which took place at Wembley as Everton beat Watford 2-0. [ [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=258963 FA Cup Final 1984] : soccerbase.com website.]

Personal life

Outside football, Hunting is a freemason, one of five said to have refereed the FA Cup Final. [ [http://www.mqmagazine.co.uk/issue-13/p-31.php Reference to freemasonry] : article at "MQ Magazine" website.] He has also been a tennis line judge at Wimbledon.

References

Print

*Football League Handbooks, 1968-1970
*Rothmans Football Yearbooks, 1971-1984
*Ionescu, Romeo (2003) The Complete Results & Line-Ups of the European Football Championships 1958-2003, Soccer Books Limited
*Ionescu, Romeo (2004) The Complete Results & Line-Ups of the European Champions Clubs’ Cup 1955-1991, Soccer Books Limited
*Ionescu, Romeo (2004) The Complete Results & Line-Ups of the European Cup Winners Cup 1960-1999, Soccer Books Limited
*Ionescu, Romeo (2004) The Complete Results & Line-Ups of the UEFA Cup 1971-1991, Soccer Books Limited.

Internet