William Hunter (footballer born 1940)

Willie Hunter
Personal information
Full name William Hunter
Date of birth 14 February 1940 (1940-02-14) (age 72)
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Playing position Inside Forward
Youth career
Edinburgh Norton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1957–1967 Motherwell 228 (43)
1967–1968 Detroit Cougars 23 (4)
1967 Glentoran (loan) 0 (0)
1968–1971 Hibernian 12 (1)
1971 Hellenic 22 (0)
1972–1975 Cape Town City
National team
1958–1960 Scottish League XI 4 (0)
1960 Scotland 3 (1)
Teams managed
1978 Queen of the South
1979–1981 Inverness Caledonian
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

William Hunter (born 14 February 1940 in Edinburgh) was a Scottish footballer who played most of his career with Motherwell.

Contents

Club career

Hunter joined Motherwell from Edinburgh Norton in 1957 with Motherwell then managed by Bobby Ancell. Hunter became part of the side that became known as the 'Ancell Babes'. Although usually played as an inside left, he also played occasionally as a winger, and was compared favourably to Gordon Smith for his performance in that role.[1]

In May 1967, the Detroit Cougars paid £14,000 for his transfer and Hunter moved to the new American professional league, the NASL.[1] His new side survived for only one year however and at the end of the 1968 NASL season, he returned to Scotland to join Hibernian. Hunter was a substitute as his new team lost the 1968–69 Scottish League Cup Final to Celtic, and he played for the Edinburgh team until 1971.

International career

Hunter earned three caps for the Scotland national team while with Motherwell, all in 1960. He scored his only Scotland goal in his first cap in a 3-3 draw with Hungary. He also played in defeats to Turkey and Wales.

Managerial career

After four years playing in South Africa, Hunter returned to Britain as assistant manager to former Motherwell team-mate Ian St. John, a role he held for three years.[1]

He earned the opportunity to manage in his own right at Queen of the South in 1978 working with players such as Allan Ball, Iain McChesney, Nobby Clark, Crawford Boyd and Jocky Dempster. Hunter left Dumfries after only four months.

His last involvement in football was as Inverness Caledonian's manager from 1979 to 1981.

References

  1. ^ a b c Lamming, Douglas (1987) (Hardback). A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who’s Who, 1872-1986. Hutton Press. (ISBN 0-907033-47-4). 

External links