Honour from the supporters who loved him was enough for this humble goal machine
SCOUSERS aren’t too bothered about knighthoods being bestowed on their heroes.
They don’t believe a few letters rubber-stamped by Buckingham Palace define a person’s worth. But with Roger Hunt, those on the red side of the city made an exception.
While plaudits were freely handed out to other heroes of England’s 1966 World Cup triumph, Kopites felt the contribution of this modest man was criminally overlooked.
So they knighted him. And it stuck so hard the club’s then all-time record goalscorer was only ever referred to as Sir Roger. Which more than made up for the royal snub: “I never needed a knighthood,” Hunt said years later. “I was knighted by the Kop. That means more.”
It was down to how humbly Hunt went about mastering his craft that others grabbed more attention.
The all-conquering Liverpool team of the mid-60s, for which he was the top scorer every season, was the first one I fell in love with.
But it was Hunt’s charismatic manager Bill Shankly and his boisterous striking partner Ian St John who were my heroes.
The narrative of England’s 1966 strikers is all about Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick and Jimmy Greaves’s heartbreaking exclusion from the final. But Hunt was the only striker Alf Ramsey picked in all six games and he scored three vital goals that saw England qualify from their group.
In a sport oozing extroverts Hunt was the opposite. He just literally rolled his sleeves up and got on with scoring goals. And oh, how he could score goals. Every type, from every angle. Among the 285 he netted in 492 games for the Reds many were memorable firsts. The first to be scored on Match of the Day, in 1964. The first in a winning FA Cup Final for Liverpool, in 1965. The first goal Liverpool scored in a European final in 1966. But when he retired he would never bring his records up in conversation. He was too free of ego, too much a gentleman. Yet if it hadn’t been for unpretentious legends like Roger Hunt, Liverpool would not be the global footballing force it is today.
When his testimonial came around, the Liverpool Echo ran a special edition with the headline: “Master player, modest man.”
It said it all. And the fans knew it. Which is why, on Sunday, Anfield will once again rock to the chants of “Sir Roger Hunt.”