Aaron Hunt (born 4 September 1986) is a German former professional

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, rugb ...

who played as an

attacking 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 ...

. He spent most of his career at

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

, making his first-team debut at the age of 18. In the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...

, he also represented

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

and

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

, winning the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

with the first club as well as the second. Hunt won three

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, his first coming in 2009.

Club career

Werder Bremen

Hunt was born in

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mi ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. After spending his first season at

in the reserves the year the first team achieved the double, he made his

debut on 18 September 2004, coming on as a substitute in a 3–0 home win against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betw ...

. On his first appearance in the starting line-up, against

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional football club based in Mönchengladbach, Nort ...

on 12 February 2005, he scored his first goal, becoming the club's youngest-ever goalscorer at the age of 18 years and 161 days. Early in 2006, Hunt suffered a mysterious

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the ...

injury, which after some months was found to be

bursitis Bursitis is the inflammation of one or more bursae (fluid filled sacs) of synovial fluid in the body. They are lined with a synovial membrane that secretes a lubricating synovial fluid. There are more than 150 bursae in the human body. The bursae ...

. As a result, he missed the remainder of the season following the winter break. In November, he renewed his contract until 2010 and, on 3 March 2007, netted a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...

in the 3–0 league victory over VfL Bochum. He finished that campaign with nine goals, and his team eventually ranked third behind

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

and

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

. Hunt scored a career-best 11 goals in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, but Werder could only finish in 14th place. In March 2014, after being awarded a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penal ...

during a match against

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...

, he successfully asked the

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

to reverse his decision, because the opposition player had not touched him.

VfL Wolfsburg

On 26 May 2014, Hunt signed for

. He made his debut for his new club on 17 August in a 5–4 penalty shoot–out win against Darmstadt 98 in the

, being replaced at the start of

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

. His first league appearance came five days later, in a 2–1 loss at

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. Hunt scored his first goal for the Wolves on 21 September 2014, in a 4–1 defeat of

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

at the

Volkswagen Arena Volkswagen Arena (; also known as the VfL Wolfsburg Arena due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a football stadium in the German city of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. It was opened in 2002 and named after the automotive group Volkswagen AG. The V ...

. He made his European debut the following week in a 4–1 loss to Everton, and netted for the first time in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

on 6 November of that year, his brace helping the hosts to a 5–1 rout of

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

; he finished the season with four goals in 22 competitive appearances.

Hamburger SV

On 31 August 2015, having already played the two first matches of the new season with Wolfsburg, Hunt joined

. He finished his first year at Volksparkstadion with one goal in 21 matches, scoring four goals from 26 total games the following campaign. Hunt made 30 appearances in all competitions in 2017–18 (29 in the league), netting three times as the club was relegated to the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

for the first time in its history. In the ensuing off-season, he was made new

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

after stripping

Gōtoku Sakai is a professional footballer who plays as a full back for Vissel Kobe. Born in the United States but raised in Japan, where he represented internationally. Club career Early career Sakai was born in New York to a German mother and a Japanese ...

of that role. After Hunt's contract was not extended, he announced his retirement in February 2022 at the age of 35. He played over 400 league matches in the top three tiers of the German league pyramid.

International career

Having a German father and an English mother, Hunt was eligible to play for both

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. His mother's family all hailed from the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

area, and his grandfather went to the same north-east school as

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World ...

. However, Hunt stated that he would only play for his birth nation. When asked which team he would represent at international level, he said he was '... honoured about this. But I have decided to play for Germany. ...', adding that he was steadfast on his decision. In October 2006, Hunt appeared for the German under-21s in a 1–0 loss against

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

for the 2007 UEFA European Championship qualification playoff (eventually 3–0 on aggregate). In November 2006, Hunt was charged by UEFA for serious unsporting behaviour, after complaints of racist remarks in the second leg of the under-21 playoff against England. He was banned for two games but, following an appeal, the decision was reversed. On 6 November 2009, he was called up to the full side for two friendlies with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...

to be held during that month, making his debut in the latter after coming on late in the game for

Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger (; born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who usually played as a central midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder. Schweinsteiger is regarded as one of the great ...

(the former had been cancelled following

Robert Enke Robert Enke (24 August 1977 – 10 November 2009) was a German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Mönchengladbach, Benfica, and Barcelona, but made the majority of his appearances for Bundesliga side Hannover 96 ...

's suicide). His third and last international was the friendly against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

in May 2013. The German national team won in

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

against the South Americans 4-2.

Career statistics

Honours

Werder Bremen *

: 2008–09 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

runner-up: 2008–09 VfL Wolfsburg *DFB-Pokal: 2014–15

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Aaron 1986 births Living people People from Goslar German people of English descent German footballers Footballers from Lower Saxony Association football midfielders Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players SV Werder Bremen II players SV Werder Bremen players VfL Wolfsburg players Hamburger SV players Germany youth international footballers Germany under-21 international footballers Germany international footballers