George Charles Hunter (2 June 1885 – 20 January 1934) was an English professional footballer who played as a half back in the Football League for Aston Villa, Oldham Athletic, Chelsea and Manchester United.
 Hunter with Aston Villa in 1910 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Charles Hunter[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 2 June 1885[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Nowshera, Punjab, British India (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) | ||
| Date of death | 20 January 1934 (aged 48)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Lambeth, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7+1⁄2 in (1.71 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Half back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Maidstone United | |||
| 1907–1908 | Croydon Common | 13 | (1) |
| 1908–1912 | Aston Villa | 91 | (1) |
| 1912–1913 | Oldham Athletic | 40 | (1) |
| 1913–1914 | Chelsea | 30 | (2) |
| 1914–1915 | Manchester United | 22 | (2) |
| 1915–1916 | → Croydon Common (wartime) | 18 | (3) |
| 1916–1917 | → Southampton (wartime) | 17 | (0) |
| 1916–1918 | → Brentford (wartime) | 18 | (0) |
| 1918–1919 | → Birmingham (wartime) | 21 | (2) |
| 1919 | Portsmouth | 8 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| The Football League XI | 2 | (0) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
editBorn in Nowshera, British India, Hunter played for Aston Villa, Oldham Athletic and Chelsea during his early career.[1] In March 1914, he was sold to Manchester United.[2] He captained the club during the 1914–15 season and stayed with United until January 1915, when his contract was cancelled due to a training ground incident.[2] He played for Croydon Common, Southampton, Brentford and Birmingham as a guest player during the First World War and finished his career with Portsmouth of the Southern League during the 1919–20 season.[1][3][4]
Military service
editHunter joined the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment of the British Army in December 1903, rising through the ranks to lance corporal by February 1906.[2] He briefly served in Malta, but was found guilty of theft and receiving stolen goods by court-martial in December 1906 and served 140 days hard labour before being discharged in May 1907.[2]
Over a year after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Hunter enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment in September 1915 and served in the 10th (Reserve) Battalion of the regiment until June 1916.[2] He was sent to France to join the 9th (Service) Battalion in August 1916, but bouts of dysentery saw him posted back to Britain as a fitness instructor.[2] He was demobilised after the Armistice with Germany in November 1918.[2]
Personal life
editAfter his retirement from football, Hunter worked as a sports writer.[2]
Career statistics
edit| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Croydon Common | 1907–08[3] | Southern League Second Division | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Aston Villa | 1908–09[3] | First Division | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 1909–10[3] | First Division | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 35 | 1 | |
| 1910–11[3] | First Division | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 0 | |
| 1911–12[3] | First Division | 11 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| Total | 91 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 97 | 1 | ||
| Oldham Athletic | 1911–12[3] | First Division | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| 1912–13[3] | First Division | 23 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 46 | 1 | ||
| Chelsea | 1912–13[3] | First Division | 11 | 1 | — | 11 | 1 | |
| 1913–14[3] | First Division | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 | |
| Total | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 2 | ||
| Manchester United | 1913–14[3] | First Division | 7 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 1914–15[3] | First Division | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 2 | |
| Total | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 2 | ||
| Portsmouth | 1919–20[3] | Southern League First Division | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Career Total | 204 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 220 | 7 | ||
References
edit- ^ a b c d Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 148. ISBN 978-1905891610.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "George Hunter". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "George Hunter" (PDF). Croydon Common Football Club. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- ^ White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 363–365. ISBN 0951526200.
External links
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