Steve Hunt (footballer, born 1956)

Born and raised in the Witton and Perry Barr areas of Birmingham, Hunt began his professional career with hometown club Aston Villa after representing the club's associated youth teams: Stanley Star (Villa Boys) and Aston Boys, as well as the Warwickshire county side.[4] Despite prior assurances to the contrary, he was turned down for an apprenticeship at the age of 16, only for Aston Villa to change their mind after his mother rang manager Vic Crowe to complain.[5] The under-18 team, coached by Frank Upton, were a strong side and won tournaments in Germany, Zambia and Holland. However Ron Saunders succeeded Crowe as first-team manager and would sell or release all of the youth-team players and sign new players; in his autobiography Hunt wrote that "Saunders had huge flaws" and "lacked empathy".[6] Hunt damaged cartilage in his knee during his debut for the reserve team and blamed the injury on Saunders' intense fitness regime.[7]

He made his first-team debut on 23 April 1973, coming on as a substitute in a 4–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday that secured Villa's promotion into the First Division.[8] He made his first start the following week, when the team ran out to a guard of honour from the Sunderland players.[9] He signed professional forms in January 1974.[10] He made his First Division debut late on in the 1975–76 season, in a 0–0 draw with Liverpool at Villa Park on 10 April.[11] He scored his first goal in senior football seven days later, in a 2–2 draw at West Ham United.[12] He also featured against Belgian side Royal Antwerp in the UEFA Cup, which was Villa's first and Hunt's only European game.[13] Saunders sold Hunt to the New York Cosmos in order to provide funds to build a stand at the Witton End.[14]

New York Cosmos coach Joe Mallett had recruited Hunt after concluding that Coventry City's 30-year old Tommy Hutchison was too old.[16] The club paid Aston Villa a £26,000 fee and doubled Hunt's Villa wages to £250-a-week.[17][18][15] He scored his first goal in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the second game of the 1977 season, a 2–1 victory at Team Hawaii on 13 April.[19] On 15 May, he provided two assists for Pelé's hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Giants Stadium.[20] Hunt scored a hat-trick himself on 5 June, in a 6–0 home victory over Toronto Metros-Croatia. The Cosmos qualified for the play-offs after finishing second in the Eastern Division, and Hunt provided all three assists for Pelé and Giorgio Chinaglia's goals in their first round win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies.[21] He scored two goals in the Cosmos 8–3 win over Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the second round first leg, with Strikers head coach Ron Newman saying that "we pretty much kept Pelé out of the game but Franz Beckenbauer and Steve Hunt killed us".[22] Hunt also scored in the Conference Championship final win over the Rochester Lancers, which secured the Cosmos a place in Soccer Bowl '77 in what would be Pelé's final game as a professional footballer.[23] The Cosmos won the Soccer Bowl by beating the Seattle Sounders 2–1 at the Civic Stadium; Hunt scored the opening goal and also provided an assist to Chinaglia, and was named the game's MVP.[24] Hunt scored eight goals and laid on ten assists during his 23 games in the 1977 season.[25]

Hunt was persuaded to stay in New Jersey after head coach Eddie Firmani and owner Ahmet Ertegun agreed to provide him with a company car and several free plane tickets home to combat his feelings of homesickness.[26] He scored a hat-trick past Gordon Banks on the opening day of the 1978 season, in a 7–0 victory over Fort Lauderdale Strikers.[27] Cosmos went on to dominate the National Eastern Division, finishing 67 points ahead of the second-placed Washington Diplomats and 13 points ahead of the Vancouver Whitecaps in the overall standings. Cosmos beat Minnesota Kicks in the two game Conference semi-finals series despite losing the opening match 9–2, with Beckenbauer scoring the winning shoot-out goal.[28] They defeated Portland Timbers in the Conference championship game to reach Soccer Bowl '78. The Cosmos took the title with a 3–1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies, with Hunt providing the assist for Dennis Tueart's opening goal.[29] Hunt scored 12 goals and laid on 12 assists during his 25 games in the 1978 season.[25]

Hunt took a large pay cut to return to the English Football League with Coventry City, having been signed for a £40,000 fee.[30] He scored on his debut in a 2–0 win at Derby County.[30] Manager Gordon Milne moved Tommy Hutchison to the right-wing to accommodate Hunt in the team.[30] Coventry played the Cosmos on 16 May 1979 in a friendly game arranged as part of Hunt's transfer.[31] Having struggled to adapt back to the physical English game in the 1978–79 season, he established himself in the "Sky Blues" starting eleven for the 1979–80 campaign, playing as a left-sided midfielder rather than a pure winger.[32] He formed a good understanding with Brian Roberts, who had succeeded Bobby McDonald at left-back.[32] The Coventry team were young and inexperienced as established stars were sold off by chairman Jimmy Hill to fund the development of the club's training ground, the Sky Blue Connexion.[33] Coventry also reached the League Cup semi-finals in 1981, where they were beaten by West Ham United.[30] The young Coventry team had come from two goals down to win the first leg 3–2 at Highfield Road, but would lose the return fixture 2–0.[34]

Hunt won the ATV and London Weekend goal of the season awards for the 1980–81 campaign with a goal against Birmingham City that started at the centre circle and ended with a curled shot into the top corner of the net following a one-two with Garry Thompson.[35] New manager Dave Sexton guided Coventry to a 14th-place finish after Milne had been sacked following a poor start to the 1981–82 season.[36] Hoping for a move to Everton, Hunt handed in a transfer request in 1982 despite having only recently signed a three-year contract and Hill informed Coventry fans that "it took our board only 20 seconds today to reject unanimously Steve Hunt's request for a transfer".[37]

Hunt returned to the New York Cosmos in 1982. He had initially been approached by Vic Crowe, who was now coaching the Portland Timbers, but found himself legally obliged to rejoin the Cosmos if he were to return to the NASL.[38] He provided all three assists in Cosmos win over the Chicago Sting in his second debut for the club.[38] He went on to score the series winning goal of the final game of the post-season quarter-final win over the Tulsa Roughnecks and played in the semi-final wins over the San Diego Sockers that took the Cosmos to Soccer Bowl '82.[39] He won his third Soccer Bowl title as the Cosmos beat the Seattle Sounders at the San Diego Stadium, with Chinaglia scoring the only goal of the game.[39]

Back with Coventry, he helped the club to finish one place and one point above the relegation zone in 1982–83 and signed a new two-year contract.[40] However he did not respond well to new manager Bobby Gould and his long ball tactics, though admitted that he was already unsettled at the club before Gould's arrival as he "was fatigued by the previous relegation battles".[41]

"Many people may not think that survival is much of an achievement. For Coventry, in those days, it was. We stuck together. To be part of a team that sticks together in difficult circumstances is a wonderful feeling."

— Hunt was proud of his six seasons spent helping to keep Coventry in the top-flight.[41]

Hunt was sold on to First Division rivals West Bromwich Albion for £100,000 in March 1984.[30] He was signed on the same day as Tony Grealish, a defensive minded midfielder who went on to form an effective combination with the attack minded Hunt.[42] He enjoyed the expansive passing football encouraged at The Hawthorns by manager Johnny Giles, which contrasted to the more restrictive style he had endured at Coventry.[43] He played as a left-sided midfielder, combining well with winger Tony Morley and full-back Derek Statham.[44] The "Baggies" finished 17th at the end of the 1983–84 campaign and moved up to 12th in 1984–85. However Albion endured a disastrous start to the 1985–86 season and Giles resigned after nine successive defeats.[45] Nobby Stiles stepped up from coaching the youth-team to lead the first-team, before Ron Saunders took charge in January 1986; Hunt later said that "I knew when he arrived that my time at Albion was coming to an end".[46] West Brom were relegated into the Second Division at the end of the season, though Hunt was named as the club's Player of the Year after the Sports Argus reported that he had "battled, almost alone, to keep Albion up".[47]

In March 1986, Hunt rejoined Aston Villa for a fee valued at £90,000, with Darren Bradley going the other way in part-exchange.[48] Villa were in the process of salary cuts and the breaking up of the 1982 European Cup winning side under the chairmanship of Doug Ellis.[48] He scored an own goal two minutes into his second home debut, though a brace from Steve Hodge was enough to give Villa the victory over West Ham United.[48] In fact Villa lost only one of the eight games immediately following Hunt's return and their form improved enough to end the 1985–86 season three points above the relegation zone.[49] John Pearson, writing in the Birmingham Evening Mail, said that "Steve Hunt's qualities of ball control, composure and precision passing have been the major reason in Villa's surge to safety".[50]

Graham Turner was sacked after a poor start to the 1986–87 campaign, with a 6–0 defeat to Nottingham Forest bringing his two years in charge to a close.[51] Hunt felt that Turner's successor, Billy McNeill, "seemed unable to change the mood" at Villa Park as results continued to go against the "Villans" and that the new manager quickly lost the dressing room.[52] Aston Villa were relegated in last place at the end of the 1986–87 season and Hunt had to retire due to a knee injury in November 1987.[15]