Who was Roger Hunt? Liverpool lead tributes to England 1966 World Cup winning footballer, who has died aged 83

Liverpool legend and England 1966 World Cup winner Roger Hunt has passed away aged 83.

Hunt is the second all time top scorer in the Red’s history and partnered hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst up front in the 1966 World Cup final as England beat West Germany 4-2.

In total, Hunt scored 285 goals in 492 Liverpool appearances before spending the later years of his club career with Bolton Wanderers.

At international level, the Lancashire native won 34 caps and scored 18 goals for the Three Lions.

The news comes just weeks after the footballing community also lost Tottenham Hotspur legend Jimm Greaves, another member of England’s World Cup winning squad.

Who was Roger Hunt?

Hunt was born at Glazebury, Lancashire on July 20, 1938 and Leigh Grammar School from 1949 until 1954.

He played for Stockton Heath, Devizes Town and Bury before being singed by Liverpool manager Phil Taylor in July 1958.

Hunt scored on his Liverpool debut on September 9, 1959 in a Second Division match against Scunthorpe United at Anfield - a sign of things to come.

How many Liverpool goals did Roger Hunt score?

Hunt scored 285 goals in 492 appearances for Liverpool from 1958 to 1969.

He is second in the list of Liverpool’s all time top scorers behind Ian Rush who scored 346.

Hunt became Liverpool’s record goalscorer in November 1967 and held that record for 23 years before it was broken by Rush.

His 245 league goals remains a record to this day.

Hunt won the First Division title with the Reds in 1963–64, 1965–66 as well as the Second Division title in 1961–62.

As well as three Charity Shields in succession (1964, 1965 and 1966), Hunt helped Liverpool win their first ever FA Cup in 1965, scoring in the final as they beat Leeds United 2-1.

Did Roger Hunt play in the 1966 World Cup final?

Yes, Hunt started the match and partnered West Ham’s Geoff Hurst up front.

In the build up to the final, Hunt scored in England’s second group stage match - a 2-0 win over Mexico and then bagged a brace in the 2-0 win over France in their following group stage match.

He started in both the quarter final win over Uruguay, having also started the opening 0-0 group stage draw, and semi-final win over Portugal meaning he started every single match for the Three Lions in the tournament.

In total, Hunt won 34 caps with his debut given to him by Walter Winterbottom, whilst he was still a Second Division player, on April 4 1962, in a 3-1 friendly against Austria at Wembley.

Just like his Liverpool debut, Hunt scored in that match.

Was Roger Hunt knighted?

Although he was never formally knighted, Hunt earned the nickname of “Sir Roger Hunt” from Liverpool supporters due to his legendary status at the club

In 2000, Hunt joined fellow 1966 teammates Alan Ball, George Cohen, Nobby Stiles and Ray Wilson in receiving an MBE.

Hunt was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and was voted at number 13 by Liverpool fans in a 2006 poll “the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop”.

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