Geoffrey Hunter (27 October 1959 – 1 June 2022) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. In a twelve-year career in the Football League he played 507 league and cup games, scoring 40 goals. He turned professional at Manchester United at the age of 17, then switched to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

in 1979. He spent two seasons at Crewe, making 87 league appearances and winning a Player of the Year award, before he went to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

for a £15,000 fee in August 1981. He helped the club to win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of the Fourth Division in 1982–83, and was also named in the PFA Team of the Year. He helped the club to promotion out of the fourth tier again in 1985–86. After 221 league appearances for the "Valiants", he was allowed to sign with

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in May 1987. He spent four years with the Welsh club, playing 122 league games, before he retired in 1991.

Career

Crewe Alexandra

Hunter started his career at First Division club Manchester United after a successful trial at the age of 14. He turned professional under the stewardship of

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betw ...

at the age of 17. However, he failed to make a competitive appearance for the club and left Old Trafford after being released by

Dave Sexton David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first ever major European trophy. Playing career Son of former professional boxer Archie Sex ...

. He then took

Jimmy Greenhoff James Greenhoff (born 19 June 1946) is an English former footballer. He was a skilful forward and although capped five times at under-23 level, once as an over-age player, he never played for the full side, and is labelled as the finest Englis ...

's advice and went to

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History Cre ...

in 1979, where

had finished bottom of the Football League in 1978–79. Under new

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 – 21 January 1994) was an English football manager at both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City. Waddington had a seven-year playing career with Crewe Alexandra before becoming a coach at Stoke City. He progre ...

, the "Railwaymen" only managed to finish one place higher in 1979–80, though the club again won re-election. Hunter made his Crewe debut in the season's opening fixture, a 2–1 defeat at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

on 11 August 1979. He scored his first Crewe goal in a 2–2 draw against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on 24 August 1979. The club rallied in 1980–81 to finish eighteenth, four points above the re-election zone. Hunter was named as the club's Player of the Year, but chose to leave the club following the departure of Waddington, who he was close to. He played in all of Crewe's 51 games that season, scoring four times; in total, he made 94 league and cup appearances and scored eight goals for Crewe.

Port Vale

Hunter was sold on to nearby

for £15,000 in August 1981, who were also struggling at the lower end of the Fourth Division under manager John McGrath. Hunter quickly became a key member of the midfield, playing 49 games in 1981–82, as the "Valiants" posted a seventh-place finish. He was an ever-present during the 1982–83

winning season, also being selected as the PFA

team of the year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

. He later said that: "It gave me a lot pride to be selected by my fellow professionals as part of the PFA side. It gives a your confidence, a big boost to know other players rate you". Vale failed to hold on to their Third Division status, and were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in 1983–84. McGrath was sacked and replaced by his assistant,

John Rudge John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, in December, who continued to name Hunter in the

first XI The First XI (or, less commonly, First 11) are the eleven primary players in an organisation's leading team, particularly a football or cricket team. A player who is considered a core part of the starting line-up in a First XI team is often the ...

. He played 51 games in 1984–85, as Rudge rebuilt his team. He played 57 games in 1985–86, scoring six goals, as he helped Vale to escape the division for a second time. However, Rudge signed Paul Smith and Ray Walker for the 1986–87 campaign, and Hunter played just five league games. He was given a free transfer to

in May 1987, along with teammate Wayne Ebanks.

Wrexham

Dixie McNeil Richard "Dixie" McNeil (born 16 January 1947) is an English former footballer and manager, who played as a striker. Playing career As a schoolboy, McNeil signed for Leicester City after playing for the local club Holwell Works, but he was re ...

's Wrexham were looking for promotion out of the Fourth Division, though they missed out on the play-offs in 1987–88 by four points. Hunter made his debut in a 6–1 defeat to

. He scored his first league goal for the cub in a 3–0 win over Cardiff City at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home ...

. They managed to reach the play-offs in 1988–89, and defeated Scunthorpe United to reach

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

. The Welsh club lost 2–1 over the two-legged final, with Hunter playing both games. The "Robins"' form dropped during the 1989–90 campaign, and McNeil was replaced by Brian Flynn, as Wrexham finished in 21st place. Flynn blooded young midfielders

Waynne Phillips Waynne Phillips (born 15 December 1970 in Caernarfon, Wales) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for various teams in the Football League. Phillips, a fluent Welsh speaker from Caernarfon, joined Wrexham as a YTS ...

and Gareth Owen, leaving Hunter's game time more limited. He nevertheless played against Manchester United in the second round of the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

, having featured against Norwegian side

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site ...

in the first round. Wrexham finished bottom of the Football League in

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, but avoided relegation due to the league's expansion. This was Hunter's last season, as he left the club in 1991 after his cruciate ligaments were injured in a tackle.

Personal and later life

After leaving the professional game, Hunter returned to Hull to work as a sales rep and financial advisor for

Norwich Union Norwich Union was the name of insurance company Aviva's British arm before June 2009. It was originally established in 1797. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. On 29 April 2008, Aviva ...

Career statistics

Honours

Port Vale * Football League Fourth Division third-place promotion: 1982–83 * Football League Fourth Division fourth-place promotion: 1985–86 Individual *

Crewe Alexandra F.C. Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Player of the Year: 1980–81 *PFA Fourth Division

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

: 1982–83

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Geoff 1959 births 2022 deaths Footballers from Kingston upon Hull English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Manchester United F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players English Football League players