Peter Hucker (born 28 October 1959) is an English former

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

during the 1980s and early 1990s. Born in Hampstead, he joined

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

as a schoolboy in December 1974, signed apprentice forms in July 1976 and turned professional in July 1977, making his league debut against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

in 1981. Hucker had been at the club since he was a junior but had played very few games. He had seen a succession of managers bring their own preferred goalkeepers in while he bided his time in the reserves. He got his big chance in a

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Third Round tie at

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

in 1982 against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. The first-choice keeper at the time,

John Burridge John Burridge (born 3 December 1951), nicknamed Budgie, is an English former goalkeeper who is now working with Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters as their goalkeeping consultant and senior goalkeeping coach for their goalkeeping academ ...

, was injured but was also not very keen on playing on the synthetic playing surface that

had at the time. Hucker played very well in the cup tie and retained his place for the remainder of the season, including in the

1982 FA Cup Final The 1982 FA Cup Final was the 101st final of the FA Cup and took place on 22 May 1982 at Wembley Stadium. It was contested between Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers. Tottenham were the cup holders and were hot favourites, while QPR had ...

against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in which he was voted the 'Man of the Match' for his performance in the first game, in which he played extremely well despite being injured. Hucker was to play a key role the following season as well as QPR stormed to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title and then the following year as Rangers finished top London club in the 1983–84 season, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Like many of the talented players of that team his form suffered as

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

left the club in 1984 to be replaced by Alan Mullery. He lost his place during the 1985–86 season (to Paul Barron and he transferred to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

in February 1987. Hucker played 160 league games for QPR. In a three-year spell at Oxford, Hucker played 66 league matches, but towards the end of his time there, he went on several loan spells, first to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in 1987–88, making seven appearances, and then twice to Manchester United without making a single appearance. He finished his career in non-league football and went on to establish a successful goalkeeping coaching school after retiring from the game.

References

Peter Hucker
Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Players Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Hucker, Peter 1959 births Living people Footballers from Hampstead English footballers Association football goalkeepers Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players English Football League players FA Cup Final players