Stephen Hunt (footballer, born 1981)

For other people named Stephen Hunt, see Stephen Hunt (disambiguation).

Stephen Hunt

Hunt with the Republic of Ireland ahead of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group B game against Russia
Personal information
Full name	Stephen Patrick Hunt
Date of birth	(1981-08-01) 1 August 1981
Place of birth	Waterford, Ireland
Height
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Coventry City
Youth career
	Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2001	Crystal Palace	3	(0)
2001–2005	Brentford	136	(25)
2005–2009	Reading	156	(17)
2009–2010	Hull City	27	(6)
2010–2013	Wolverhampton Wanderers	56	(7)
2013–2015	Ipswich Town	38	(0)
2016–	Coventry City	0	(0)
International career‡
2000	Republic of Ireland U21	1	(0)
2007–	Republic of Ireland	39	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:07, 4 May 2015 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 June 2012

Stephen Patrick Hunt (born 1 August 1981) is an Irish international footballer who plays for Football League One club Coventry City.

Hunt's position is left midfield, although he can also play at left back and as an attacking midfielder. He previously played for Brentford, Crystal Palace, Reading, Hull City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. His younger brother, Noel, is also a footballer.

Career

Club

Early years

Hunt became known for his creative and skilful play as well as his work rate as a winger. Although born in Laois, Hunt grew up in Clonea-Power, Waterford. He was a talented under-age hurler and soccer player. He played for Waterford hurlers at under-15 and under-16 levels. Hurling was his first love.

Hunt's first introduction to organised football was when he moved to the Christian Brothers' Secondary School in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary at the age of 11. During his time at secondary school he also began playing for Waterford soccer side Johnville F.C. and won a Munster Schools Junior Cup with Carrick CBS. This gained Hunt a degree of recognition and he played in the Kennedy Cup with Waterford County. He later excelled for Carrick United at various age levels, before going to England starting his career as a trainee with Crystal Palace. Failing to make an impact on the first team, Hunt had trials with clubs including Dundee United before leaving to join Brentford. In his four years at the West London club, he became an integral part of the team.

In 2005 Hunt rejected a new contract and decided to leave Brentford. After agreeing to join Bradford City, late interest from Reading, then in the Football League Championship, made him change his mind.

Reading

Hunt with Reading

Hunt was denied more starting appearances in his first Reading season by the form of Bobby Convey. He still made a good contribution, appearing from the bench, as Reading won the Championship title and promotion to the Premiership during the 2005–06 season.

On 14 October 2006, Hunt's knee collided with Chelsea's goalkeeper Petr Čech when the Reading player was lunging at the ball, resulting in Čech undergoing surgery for a depressed fracture of the skull. Since the injury, Petr Čech has had to wear head protection during every game. Following the incident, Premier League officials, players, pundits, player's representatives and even MPs expressed views either condemning or supporting Hunt and the others involved in the aftermath of the incident. The FA eventually confirmed that no action would be taken against Hunt but, in the mean time, both Hunt and team-mate Ibrahima Sonko, involved in a collision in the same match with Čech's replacement Carlo Cudicini, had allegedly received death threats from Chelsea fans. Hunt scored his first Premier League goal in the 6-0 home win over West Ham.

During the January 2008 transfer window, Reading rejected a series of bids (peaking at £5.5 million) from Sunderland for Hunt, but Reading confirmed that they had no intention of selling players at that time. On 1 February 2008, Hunt signed a new deal with Reading keeping him at the club until the summer of 2011. In 2007–08, Hunt scored 6 goals in 39 appearances for Reading's first team but could not prevent the club being relegated on goal difference.

On 4 February 2009, Reading confirmed that Hunt had signed a new three-and-a-half year contract, that would keep him at the club until the summer of 2012. However, after the club failed in their attempt to win an instant return to the Premier League, losing in the playoff semi finals to Burnley, Hunt announced his intention to leave Reading in the hope securing a move back to the Premier League.

Hull City

On 13 August 2009 it was confirmed that Hunt had signed for Hull City for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around the region of £3.5 million. He scored his first goal for the club 28 minutes into his debut against Chelsea on 15 August 2009. This was also the first goal of the 2009–10 Premier League season. However, he was taunted by Chelsea fans throughout the game, due to the incident with Cech. Hunt also scored in his next match, his home debut for Hull City, but they were beaten 5–1 by Tottenham.

In the January transfer window, Hunt was the subject of a £5 million bid from Wolverhampton Wanderers, but the Tigers rejected it. Shortly after, Hunt suffered a foot injury that ruled him out of the run-in. In his absence, the club were relegated amid growing financial worries.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 21 June 2010 Wolverhampton Wanderers signed Hunt on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £3 million. Hunt, still recovering from his foot injury from his time with Hull, did not return to action until several months into the season, making his Wolves debut as a substitute against Chelsea on 23 October 2010. He scored his first goal for the club on 27 November, a 3–2 win against Sunderland.

In the early part of 2011, Hunt suffered calf and hernia injuries which kept him out of action for up to three months. He returned from injury for the final five fixtures of the season and scored three minutes from time on the final day of the season against Blackburn Rovers to guarantee Wolves their Premier League safety.

Although undergoing a groin operation, Hunt was largely a regular player for Wolves throughout the 2011–12 season as the club suffered relegation. His campaign back in the Championship was hampered by a persistent hip injury but he played regularly throughout the final months as the team was once again relegated. At the conclusion of the season it was announced that Hunt would be free to leave as his contract had expired. In total he made 66 appearances for the club, scoring eight times.

Ipswich Town

On 8 November 2013 Hunt signed a short-term deal with Ipswich Town.

On 30 June 2014 Hunt signed a further 1-year deal with Ipswich.

Coventry City

On 8th January 2016 Hunt signed a short term deal with League 1 promotion chasing side Coventry City FC after a short spell as a free agent.

International

Hunt (not pictured) during a "welcome ceremony" for the Irish squad in Sopot before UEFA Euro 2012

Hunt earned his first cap for the Republic of Ireland in their 2–1 win away to San Marino on 7 February 2007, coming on as a substitute. Later that year he was sent off following a challenge on Jan Polák in a match against the Czech Republic on 12 September 2007.

The midfielder became a regular member of Giovanni Trapattoni's team that narrowly failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Hunt scored his first, and to date only, international goal through a late penalty in a 2–3 friendly defeat to Poland at Croke Park on 19 November 2008. He was subsequently selected as part of Ireland's squad for the Euro 2012 tournament but did not play in any of their games.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 May 2015

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Crystal Palace	1999–2000	First Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	-		3	0
	2000–01		0	0	0	0	0	0	-		0	0
	Total		3	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	3	0
Brentford	2001–02	Second Division	35	4	1	0	1	0	1	0	38	4
	2002–03		42	7	4	2	2	0	2	1	50	10
	2003–04		40	11	2	0	1	0	2	1	45	12
	2004–05		19	3	4	0	0	0	1	0	24	3
	Total		136	25	11	7	4	0	6	2	157	34
Reading	2005–06	Championship	38	2	4	1	4	0	2	0	46	3
	2006–07	Premier League	35	4	1	0	2	0	-		38	4
	2007–08		37	5	2	2	1	0	-		40	7
	2008–09	Championship	46	6	0	0	2	1	1	0	49	7
	2009–10		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		156	17	7	3	9	1	3	0	175	21
Hull City	2009–10	Premier League	27	6	0	0	0	0	-		27	6
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2010–11	Premier League	20	3	3	1	1	0	-		24	4
	2011–12		24	3	2	0	2	0	-		28	3
	2012–13	Championship	12	1	0	0	2	0	-		14	1
	Total		56	7	5	1	5	0	-	-	66	8
Ipswich Town	2013–14	Championship	23	0	1	0	0	0	-		24	0
	2014–15		17	0	2	0	0	0	-		19	0
	Total		40	0	3	0	0	0	-	-	43	0
Career total			418	54	26	11	18	1	9	0	471	68

International

Republic of Ireland national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2007	9	0
2008	6	1
2009	10	0
2010	1	0
2011	11	0
2012	2	0
Total	39	1

Statistics accurate as of match played 4 June 2012

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	19 November 2008	Croke Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Poland	1–2	2–3	Friendly

Honours

Reading

• Football League Championship (1): 2005–06

Republic of Ireland

• Nations Cup: 2011

Individual

• Reading Player of the Year 2007–08
• Hull City Player of the Year 2009–10
• Football League Championship Team of the Year: 2008–09

External links

• Stephen Hunt career statistics at Soccerbase
• ESPN Profile