Johnny Hunt (footballer)

Johnny Hunt

Personal information
Full name	John Hunt [1]
Date of birth	(1990-08-23) 23 August 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Position(s)	Left-back
Team information
Current team	Bootle
Youth career
	Wrexham
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2014	Wrexham	98	(13)
2014–2015	Cambridge United	9	(1)
2014–2015	→ Wrexham (loan)	10	(0)
2015–2017	Chester	84	(3)
2017–2018	Mansfield Town	18	(0)
2018–2019	Stevenage	29	(0)
2019–2020	Hamilton Academical	16	(0)
2020	Kettering Town	1	(0)
2020–2021	Prestatyn Town	0	(0)
2021	Connah's Quay Nomads	10	(0)
2022–2023	Warrington Rylands 1906	43	(1)
2023–	Bootle	2	(0)
International career
2013	England C	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:27, 13 December 2023 (UTC)

John Hunt (born 23 August 1990) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays for Bootle as a left-back.

Hunt progressed through the youth academy at Wrexham before making his first-team debut towards the end of the 2009–10 season. He spent five seasons at Wrexham, during his time there he scored the winning penalty in the 2013 FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium. In June 2014, Hunt joined League Two club Cambridge United, although returned to Wrexham on loan one month into the 2014–15 campaign. He left the Cambridge by mutual consent in June 2015 and immediately signed for National League club Chester, where he played regularly for two years. Hunt spent the 2017–18 season at Mansfield Town, before being transfer-listed at the end of the campaign. He subsequently joined Stevenage on a free transfer in June 2018 and spent one season there before signing for Hamilton in July 2019. Hunt has also represented the England C team.

Club career

Wrexham

Hunt began his career in the Wrexham youth academy. ^[2] He made his first-team debut for Wrexham on 20 April 2010, starting in a 1–0 away defeat to Oxford United. ^[3] Hunt played just five times over the following two seasons, ^{[4] [5]} finally breaking through as a first-team regular during the second half of the 2011–12 campaign. ^[6] He played in the Conference Premier play-offs that season as Wrexham narrowly lost to Luton Town at the semi-final stage. ^[3]

The 2012–13 season marked Hunt's first full season in the first-team at Wrexham, ^[7] with his first professional goal coming in a 1–1 draw with Ebbsfleet United on 18 August 2012. ^[8] Hunt scored the winning penalty as Wrexham won the FA Trophy courtesy of a 4–1 penalty shootout victory over Grimsby Town at Wembley Stadium on 24 March 2013. ^[9] Hunt would return to Wembley two months later as Wrexham made the Conference Premier play-off final in May 2013, ^[7] playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 defeat to Newport County, meaning Wrexham would remain in the Conference Premier. ^[10] Later that month he signed a new contract with Wrexham. ^[11] He made 49 appearances during the campaign, scoring three times. ^[7]

During the 2013–14 season, Hunt played in defence, midfield and also as a striker. ^[12] He received the first red card of his career for a tackle on Curtis Weston in a 1–1 draw with Barnet on 13 October 2013. ^[13] He finished as the club's top goalscorer for the campaign with 12 goals in 46 appearances, ending the season playing as a striker and scoring four goals in the club's final six league matches. ^{[14] [15]} With his contract set to expire, Hunt turned down a new contract offer from Wrexham in June 2014, with Wrexham stating he was set to join "an unnamed League Two club". ^[16]

Cambridge United

Hunt subsequently signed a two-year contract with League Two club Cambridge United on 11 June 2014. ^[17] Despite being out of contract, Wrexham stated they had agreed a compensation package with Cambridge for the player as he was under the age of 23. ^{[16] [17]} Having not played for Cambridge a month into the 2014–15 season, ^[18] Hunt returned to Wrexham on 1 September 2014, on a loan deal until January 2015. ^[19] He made 14 appearances during the four-month spell, scoring once, before returning to Cambridge. ^[18]

On his return to Cambridge, Hunt made his Football League debut, coming on as a second-half substitute and scoring Cambridge's first goal in a 3–2 away loss against Luton Town on 31 January 2015. ^[20] Hunt struggled to cement a first-team place at Cambridge and made nine appearances for the club, scoring once. ^[18] He left Cambridge when his contract was terminated by mutual consent in June 2015. ^[21]

Chester

On the same day his departure from Cambridge was announced, Hunt joined National League club Chester on a free transfer. ^[22] He made a goalscoring debut for Chester when he "beat two Braintree defenders before curling into the far corner" in a 1–0 home victory over Braintree Town on 8 August 2015. ^[23] Hunt was a regular throughout the campaign as he made 49 appearances in all competitions, scoring three times, as Chester consolidated their place in the National League courtesy of a 17th-place finish. ^[24] He signed a new one-year contract on 23 June 2016. ^[25]

He kept his place as the club's first choice left-back during the 2016–17 season, playing 41 times and scoring once. ^[26] During the campaign, Hunt was also sent-off twice within the space of four appearances, consequently missing six matches through suspension at the start of 2017. ^[26] Hunt and Chester held "initial talks" over a new contract in January 2017. ^[27] Despite talks continuing in March that year, ^[28] no deal was agreed, and Chester decided against offering Hunt a new contract. ^[27] He left the club upon the expiry of his contract in May 2017. ^[27] Hunt stated his surprise at not being offered a new contract and added he "would've signed a contract there and then" had it been offered. ^[27] He made 90 appearances for the club over his two seasons there.

Mansfield Town

Following his departure from Chester, Hunt signed for League Two club Mansfield Town on a free transfer on 23 May 2017. ^[29] He made his Mansfield debut three weeks into the new campaign, playing the whole match in a 3–1 loss to Lincoln City in the EFL Trophy. ^[30] Hunt was originally second choice left-back to Mal Benning at the start of the season, but cemented his place a first-team regular from September through to December 2017, ^[31] with Mansfield manager Steve Evans stating Hunt was "in front of Benning by a nose". ^[32] Following a change of management, Hunt made just three appearances during the second half of the season. ^[31] He was subsequently transfer-listed upon the conclusion of the 2017–18 season on 10 May 2018. ^[33] New Mansfield manager David Flitcroft stated Hunt had asked to be guaranteed first-team football, which he could not do, and that Hunt's position in the squad could also prevent the progress of youth graduate left-back Henri Wilder. ^[34] Hunt made 21 appearances during his one season at Mansfield. ^[31]

Stevenage

Hunt signed for fellow League Two club Stevenage on 26 June 2018, joining the club on a free transfer. ^{[34] [35]} He made his Stevenage debut in the club's opening match of the 2018–19 season, a 2–2 draw with Tranmere Rovers at Broadhall Way, in which he was sent-off for two bookable offences. ^[36] Hunt made 33 appearances during the season as Stevenage finished in tenth position in League Two, one point off of the play-off places. ^{[37] [38]} He was released by Stevenage at the end of the season. ^[39]

Hamilton Academical

Hunt signed for Scottish Premiership club Hamilton Academical on 1 July 2019. ^[40]

Kettering Town

On 29 October 2020, Hunt joined National League North side Kettering Town. ^[41] On 14 November 2020, it was announced that Hunt had left the club after having played just one game for the Poppies. ^[42]

Prestatyn Town

On 20 December 2020, Hunt signed for Cymru North side Prestatyn Town. ^[43] He left the club without making an appearance due to the suspension of football in Wales below elite level due to the impact of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

Connahs Quay Nomads

The following month, he signed for Connah's Quay Nomads. ^[44] He left the club at the end of the season.

Warrington Rylands 1906

In January 2022 he signed for Warrington Rylands 1906. ^[45]

Bootle

In May 2023 he signed for Bootle.

International career

Hunt was called up to represent the England C team, who represent England at non-league level, on 29 May 2013, having initially been on manager Paul Fairclough's stand-by list. ^[46] He made his England C debut when he played the full 90 minutes in a 6–1 victory over Bermuda on 4 June 2013 in Hamilton. ^[47]

Style of play

Hunt predominantly plays at left-back. ^{[2] [12] [32]} During the 2013–14 campaign, he was described as a utility player having been deployed at left-back, central midfield and also as a striker. ^{[2] [12] [15]} When Hunt was used as a striker during the season, finishing as the club's top goalscorer, he stated he spent time adapting his game; working on making runs into the box, as well as practising his finishing. ^[12] From the following season on, Hunt has been deployed solely at left-back. ^{[32] [35]}

Career statistics

As of match played 9 April 2024

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wrexham	2009–10 [4]	Conference Premier	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	1	0
	2010–11 [5]	Conference Premier	3	0	0	0	—		2 [a]	0	5	0
	2011–12 [6]	Conference Premier	13	0	4	0	—		2 [b]	0	19	0
	2012–13 [7]	Conference Premier	39	2	2	0	—		8 [c]	1	49	3
	2013–14 [14]	Conference Premier	42	11	2	0	—		2 [a]	1	46	12
	Total		98	13	8	0	0	0	14	2	120	15
Cambridge United	2014–15 [18]	League Two	9	1	—		0	0	0	0	9	1
Wrexham (loan)	2014–15 [18]	Conference Premier	10	0	4	1	—		0	0	14	1
Chester	2015–16 [24]	National League	44	2	1	0	—		4 [d]	1	49	3
	2016–17 [26]	National League	40	1	1	0	—		1 [a]	0	42	1
	Total		84	3	2	0	0	0	5	1	91	4
Mansfield Town	2017–18 [31]	League Two	18	0	1	0	0	0	2 [e]	0	21	0
Stevenage	2018–19 [37]	League Two	29	0	1	0	1	0	2 [f]	0	33	0
Hamilton Academical	2019–20 [48]	Scottish Premiership	16	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	18	0
Kettering Town	2020–21 [49]	National League North	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	1	0
Prestatyn Town	2020–21	Cymru North	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Connah's Quay Nomads	2020–21 [49]	Cymru Premier	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
Warrington Rylands 1906	2021–22 [50]	NPL Division One West	11	1	0	0	—		0	0	11	0
	2022–23 [51]	NPL Premier Division	26	0	1	0	—		2 [a]	0	29	0
	Total		37	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	40	4
Bootle	2023–24 [52]	NPL Division One West	2	0	1	0	—		0	0	3	0
Career Total			314	18	19	1	2	0	25	3	360	22

1. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
2. One appearance in FA Trophy, one appearance in Conference Premier play-offs
3. Five appearances and one goal in FA Trophy, three appearances in Conference Premier play-offs
4. Three appearances and one goal in FA Trophy, one appearance in Cheshire Senior Cup
5. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
6. Appearance in the EFL Trophy

Honours

Wrexham

• FA Trophy: 2012–13 ^[9]

References

1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/08/2014 and 31/08/2014" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 5. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
2. "Utility man Hunt rejoins Wrexham FC on loan". Daily Post. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
3. "Oxford 1–0 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 20 April 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
4. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
5. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
6. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
7. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
8. "Ebbsfleet United 1–1 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
9. "FA Trophy final: Grimsby Town 1–1 Wrexham (1–4 on pens)". BBC Sport. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
10. "Newport County 2–0 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
11. "Johnny Hunt and Joe Clarke sign one-year deals with Wrexham". BBC Sport. 24 May 2013.
12. "Johnny Hunt is first Wrexham FC player to hit 10 goals this season". Daily Post. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
13. "Barnet 1–1 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 13 October 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
14. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
15. "Wrexham FC's Johnny Hunt could be on the verge of quitting Racecourse". Daily Post. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
16. "Johnny Hunt: Wrexham midfielder to leave Racecourse". BBC Sport. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
17. "Cambridge United sign Wrexham's Johnny Hunt". BBC Sport. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
18. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
19. "Johnny Hunt returns to Wrexham on loan from Cambridge". BBC Sport. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
20. "Luton Town 3–2 Cambridge United". BBC Sport. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
21. "Hunt leaves United". Cambridge United F.C. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
22. "Johnny Hunt: Cambridge United midfielder joins Chester FC". BBC Sport. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
23. "Chester 1–0 Braintree Town". BBC Sport. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
24. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
25. "Chester FC: Johnny Hunt pens new contract". Chester Chronicle. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
26. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
27. "Chester FC: Johnny Hunt 'surprised' at being released after two seasons with the Blues". The Leader. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
28. "Chester FC: Full-back Johnny Hunt opens talks over a new contract". The Standard. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
29. "Mansfield Town sign David Mirfin & Johnny Hunt on free transfers". BBC Sport. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
30. "Mansfield Town 1–3 Lincoln City". Sky Sports. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
31. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
32. "Left back looks forward – meet new Stags star Johnny Hunt". Chad. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
33. "Mansfield Town release Rhys Bennett and six others transfer-listed". BBC Sport. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
34. "Hunt joins Stevenage". Mansfield Town F.C. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
35. "Johnny Hunt: Stevenage sign Mansfield full-back". BBC Sport. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
36. "Stevenage 2–2 Tranmere Rovers". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
37. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
38. "League Two Table – 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
39. "Stevenage retained / released list". Stevenage F.C. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
40. "Hamilton Accies sign defender Johnny Hunt from Stevenage". BBC Sport. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
41. "Breaking News - New Signing". Kettering Town F.C. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
42. "The buck stops with me, says Kettering Town boss Cox". Northamptonshire Telegraph. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
43. "Prestatyn Town FC: Jonny Hunt signs for JD Cymru North champions". Rhyl Journal. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
44. "Three new faces at Deeside". Connah's Quay Nomads. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
45. Gordon, James (31 January 2022). "Warrington Rylands Secure Exciting Swoop For Trio". Northern Premier League. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
46. "Wrexham FC's Johnny Hunt called into England C squad". Daily Post. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
47. "Wrexham FC's Johnny Hunt on England C and the season ahead". Daily Post. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
48. "Games played by Johnny Hunt in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
49. "England - J. Hunt - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
50. "Warrington Rylands | Appearances | John Hunt | 2021-2022 | Football Web Pages".
51. "Warrington Rylands | Appearances | John Hunt | 2022-2023 | Football Web Pages".
52. "Bootle | Appearances | John Hunt | Football Web Pages".

External links

• Johnny Hunt at Soccerbase