ROGER HUNT LIVERPOOL AND ENGLAND IF HE SAID IT HAD CROSSED THE GERMAN LINE, IT MUST HAVE DONE
IT says much about the reputation of Roger Hunt that, when he said “the ball was over the line,” no one questioned him.
That ball, of course, was in the 1966 World Cup final, and Liverpool legend Hunt, who died on Monday evening after a long illness, was a key player in the England team that lifted the trophy after the most controversial goal in the nation’s history.
Hunt had followed up Geoff Hurst’s shot ahead of a Germany defender (above) but, rather than head it home when it bounced down from the bar, he instead wheeled away in celebration. For a goalscorer of his prowess, that spoke volumes.
And what a finisher he was, perhaps the greatest in Liverpool’s illustrious history. He is the club’s all-time record league goalscorer. That rare talent saw him make almost 500 appearances for the club in 11 years after signing from non-league Stockton Heath at the age of 20.
Those years saw him score 285 goals to lead Bill Shankly’s team to promotion, and then two League titles, along with a first FA Cup triumph.
It also saw Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp describe Hunt as “second to no one in his importance in the history of Liverpool FC.”
Klopp wrote to Hunt on the striker’s 80th birthday, three years ago, thanking him for such an important contribution towards making Liverpool the global force they are today.
“To be the goalscoring catalyst of the Shankly team puts him in a bracket of LFC legends who are responsible for making us the club we are today,” said Klopp yesterday.
“A World Cup winner in 1966, too. I am told that the Kop christened him ‘Sir Roger’ for all his achievements. A goalscorer who never stopped working to help his teammates; I believe he would have fitted in well within our current team. So, it is Sir Roger we will remember, honour and pay tribute to over the coming days. You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
The two strikers who came closest to matching Hunt at Anfield, Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler, both spoke with genuine respect of a man who wore his legendary status with dignity and restraint.
Fowler said: “He was a quiet man but with a huge presence. A genuinely lovely person who kept himself to himself and never spoke about what he achieved. And he achieved so much. He has a special place in history. There was no one better.”
Rush said: “Sir Roger was a true gentleman, on and off the pitch, and someone I always looked up to. He was an incredible goalscorer, and a true inspiration.”
Hunt was never knighted, despite his achievements for England and Liverpool, but always said he didn’t need it. “I was knighted by the Kop, that means more,” he said.
And he always maintained the ball was over the line.
No one who knew the quiet man from Glazebury, near Warrington, would ever doubt he believed that sincerely.