Willie Hunter (footballer, born 1880)
William Hunter (born 29 July 1880) was a Scottish footballer who played mainly as a centre forward, featuring for clubs including St Bernard's, Airdrieonians, Kilmarnock, Rangers, Hamilton Academical, Motherwell and Cowdenbeath.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Hunter | ||
| Date of birth | 29 July 1880 | ||
| Place of birth | Springside, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Centre forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1904–1905 | St Bernard's | 16 | (3) |
| 1905–1909 | Airdrieonians | 94 | (52) |
| 1908 | → Kilmarnock (loan) | 4 | (4) |
| 1909–1913 | Rangers | 17 | (19) |
| 1911 | → Hamilton Academical (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1911–1912 | → Airdrieonians (loan) | 17 | (6) |
| 1912–1913 | → Motherwell (loan) | 12 | (3) |
| 1913 | Lochgelly United | ||
| 1913–1914 | Cowdenbeath | 17 | (1) |
| 1914–1915 | Motherwell | 1 | (0) |
| – | Saltcoats Victoria | ||
| Total | 183 | (88) | |
| National team | |||
| 1909 | Scottish League XI | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
He came to prominence with Airdrie, scoring 43 Scottish Football League goals from 51 appearances between 1907 and 1909 (plus four in as many games on loan at Kilmarnock) which earned him a move to Rangers.[1]
His scoring run continued at Ibrox with 19 goals in 17 matches in 1909–10 despite often being deployed on the wing, but by their high standards the club had a very poor season (fifth in the league, out of the Scottish Cup in the opening round, an Old Firm defeat in the Glasgow Cup final[2] and not even making the final of the Charity Cup) and Hunter was not selected again,[3] although he remained on the books until 2013, instead serving several loans. One of these was a short term deal with Hamilton with the intention of improving their team for the 1911 Scottish Cup Final,[4] but he failed to score in any of his seven appearances and Accies lost the final to Celtic after a replay.[5]
After leaving Rangers, now well into his 30s, Hunter had spells with Cowdenbeath, where he won the 1913–14 Scottish Division Two title, and Motherwell.[6][1] Outside football, he trained as a school teacher.[4]
Hunter was selected once for the Scottish Football League XI against the Irish League XI in 1909, while in good form with Airdrieonians.[7]
References
- John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - Glasgow Cup–Final Tie., The Glasgow Herald, 11 October 1909
- (Rangers player) Hunter, William, FitbaStats
- Hunter, Willie (1911), Hamilton Academical Memory Bank
- Scottish Cup–Replayed Final, The Glasgow Herald, 17 April 1911, via The Celtic Wiki
- William Hunter, MotherWELLnet
- "[SFL player] W Hunter". London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 28 July 2020.