Ralph Hunt (footballer)

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Ralph Hunt
Personal information
Full name Ralph Arthur Robert Hunt[1]
Date of birth (1933-08-14)14 August 1933[2]
Place of birth Portsmouth, England[1]
Date of death 17 December 1964(1964-12-17) (aged 31)[1]
Place of death Grantham, England[1]
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Portsmouth
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1950–1953 Portsmouth 5 (0)
1953–1955
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
 33 (7)
1955–1958 Norwich City 124 (67)
1958–1959 Derby County 24 (10)
1959–1961 Grimsby Town 53 (39)
1961 Swindon Town 21 (13)
1961–1962 Port Vale 14 (6)
1962–1964 Newport County 83 (37)
1964 Chesterfield 17 (5)
Total 374 (184)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Norwich City F.C. in 1959 with – from left, standing: Roy McCrohan, Ralph Hunt, Ken Nethercott, Barry Butler, Ron Ashman, Matt Crowe; crouched from left: Errol Crossan, Terry Allcock, Terry Bly, Jimmy Hill and Bobby Brennan.

Ralph Arthur Robert Hunt (14 August 1933 – 17 December 1964) was an English footballer. A prolific forward, he scored 205 goals in 404 league and cup games in a 14-year career in the Football League.

He began his career at

club record with 33 goals in a single season. He joined Derby County in 1958 before moving on to Grimsby Town the following year. He switched to Swindon Town in June 1961 before being sold to Port Vale for £3,500 in December 1961. He was sold to Newport County for a £2,000 fee in July 1962. He joined Chesterfield in 1964 but was killed in a car crash in December 1964. Despite his record of scoring a goal every two games in the lower divisions, he never won any major honours and was never promoted
.

Career

Hunt began his career at his hometown club

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in February 1954. Jack Bruton's "Cherries" finished 19th in the Third Division South in 1953–54 and then 17th in 1954–55
.

He departed

Norwich City Hall of Fame
.

Hunt spent the

Harry Storer led the "Rams" to a 16th-place finish. Hunt then left the Baseball Ground to join league rivals Grimsby Town in August 1958. The "Mariners" suffered relegation in 1958–59, finishing one point behind Rotherham United, who avoided the drop. Tim Ward replaced Allenby Chilton in charge at Blundell Park but could only take the club up to fourth place in 1959–60, two places and seven points below the promotion places. During the campaign, Hunt finished as the club's top-scorer with 33 goals. The club slipped to sixth in 1960–61, 12 points behind promoted Walsall
.

He

County Ground half-way through the campaign.[4] He joined league rivals Port Vale in December 1961 after manager Norman Low paid out a £3,500 fee.[1] He turned up on a motorbike ten minutes before the kick-off on 16 December, before he got onto the pitch to make his Vale Park debut against Shrewsbury Town – he then scored a hat-trick in what was a 4–1 victory for the "Valiants".[5] Despite securing six goals in 14 games he lost his place in March and was sold on to Billy Lucas's Newport County for a £2,000 fee in July 1962.[1]

He finished as the club's top scorer in 1962–63 with 32 goals. He bagged three hat-tricks: the first came in a 6–0 win over Barrow at Somerton Park on 17 September, the second came in a 5–1 win over Crewe Alexandra on 6 October, and the third came in a 6–2 win at Holywell in the Welsh Cup on 17 April. He hit 16 goals in 1963–64, including a hat-trick against Hereford United in the FA Cup First Round on 18 November. Despite his scoring exploits, the "Ironsides" still could only finish 20th in the Fourth Division in 1962–63 and 15th in 1963–64.

He signed with Tony McShane's Chesterfield for the 1964–65 season. He scored 10 goals in 21 games at Saltergate before his death in a car accident on 17 December 1964.[6]

Hunt also guested for Gloucester City during his playing career.[7]

Personal life

Hunt grew up in a football family and was the brother of Denis Hunt and the nephew of Douglas Hunt.[8][9] He died in a car accident on 17 December 1964 at the age of 31.[1] The accident occurred on the return journey to watch cup opponents Peterborough United with teammates Peter Stringfellow (who was driving), Ron Powell and Doug Wragg.[4]

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Portsmouth 1952–53[10] First Division 2 0 0 0 — 2 0
1953–54[10] First Division 3 0 0 0 — 3 0
Total 5 0 0 0 — 5 0
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
 1953–54[11] Third Division South 8 1 0 0 — 8 1
1954–55[11] Third Division South 25 6 3 1 — 28 7
Total 33 7 3 1 — 36 8
Norwich City 1955–56[11] Third Division South 45 31 3 2 — 48 33
1956–57[11] Third Division South 43 20 1 1 — 44 21
1957–58[11] Third Division South 36 16 4 2 — 40 18
Total 124 67 8 5 — 132 72
Derby County 1958–59[12] Second Division 24 10 0 0 — 24 10
Grimsby Town 1959–60[11] Third Division 39 33 1 1 — 40 34
1960–61[11] Third Division 14 6 0 0 0 0 14 6
Total 53 39 1 1 0 0 54 40
Swindon Town 1961–62[4] Third Division 21 13 2 1 2 1 25 15
Port Vale 1961–62[11] Third Division 14 6 — — 14 6
Newport County 1962–63[11] Fourth Division 44 27 1 0 3 1 48 28
1963–64[11] Fourth Division 39 10 5 5 1 1 45 16
Total 83 37 6 5 4 2 93 44
Chesterfield 1964–65[6] Fourth Division 17 5 1 0 3 5 21 10
Career total 374 184 21 13 9 8 404 205

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-9529152-0-0
    .
  2. ^ "Profile". pompeyrama.com. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  3. ISBN 0907033342
    .
  4. ^ a b c d "profile". swindon-town-fc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  5. ISBN 0-9508981-6-3
    .
  6. ^ a b "Sky is Blue – The Chesterfield FC history resource – Line-ups – 1964–65". Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  7. ISBN 978-0-9557425-1-4
    .
  8. ISBN 0955294916
    .
  9. ^ "ON THIS DAY... - News - Gillingham". www.gillinghamfootballclub.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  10. ^ a b "PompeyRama – Ralph Hunt". pompeyrama.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ralph Hunt at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  12. ^ "Ralph Hunt". 11v11.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
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