Andrew Hunt (born 9 June 1970) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker.

Career

Born in

West Thurrock West Thurrock is an area, former civil parish and traditional Church of England parish in Thurrock, Essex, England, located 18 miles (28.1 km) east south-east of Charing Cross, London. History West Thurrock was an ancient parish. In 1894 ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Hunt started his career in

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

, whilst training in business and tourism management, with

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

and Kettering Town before being signed by then manager Jim Smith for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

in early 1991. Smith departed soon after, and Hunt continued to play under his successor

Ossie Ardiles Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), more commonly known as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former player. A competitive and skilled midfielder, Ardiles became a cult hero in England, along with Glenn Hoddl ...

. However, this was not a successful time for the Magpies, who had fallen into the Second Division in 1989 and failed to make even the playoffs in the 1990-91 season. Ardiles reshaped the side for the 1991–92 season by drafting in more young players and adopting a very attacking style of football, but things failed to improve and by the end of October in 1991 the Magpies were bottom of the Second Division. Ardiles was sacked on 5 February 1992 and replaced by

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...

, who chose David Kelly and Micky Quinn as his first choice attacking force. Hunt was on the sidelines for much of the next 12 months before departing to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, where Ardiles was now the manager. Hunt scored a hat-trick on his home debut for Albion in March 1993 against Brighton. He scored the first goal in the Second Division play-off final in 1993 at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

as West Brom beat Port Vale 3–0 to gain promotion. Hunt was a regular over the next five seasons, creating an effective partnership with Bob Taylor, but West Brom failed to gain another promotion. In 1998, he joined Charlton Athletic, who had just been promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, on a free transfer. A highlight in his first season at Charlton was scoring twice as they drew 2-2 away at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, however Charlton were relegated at the end of the season. In his second season Hunt scored twenty four goals as Charlton won Division One to win promotion back to the Premiership, scoring three hat-tricks in the process against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

and Stockport County (twice). However, after scoring in what turned out to be his final game for Charlton against Coventry City he retired early from football during the 2000–01 season due to

chronic fatigue syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling Chronic condition, chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory ...

. Hunt returned to Charlton briefly in 2003 to try to earn another contract, and played in three reserve games, but was not offered a contract. Hunt now runs the Belize Jungle Dome and Green Dragon Adventure Travel, a pair of

adventure travel Adventure travel is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel with a certain degree of risk (real or perceived), and which may require special skills and physical exertion. In the United States, adventure tourism has seen growth in l ...

companies in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

, with his wife, former

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

presenter Simone Angel.

Honours

West Brom * Second Division play-offs: 1992–93 Charlton Athletic * First Division: 1999–2000 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1999-2000 EFL Championship Top Scorer : Winner 1999–2000 EFL Championship

References

External links

*
Belize Jungle DomeGreen Dragon Adventure Travel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Andy Living people People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome 1970 births People from West Thurrock British people of Austrian descent English men's footballers Newcastle United F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Premier League players Kettering Town F.C. players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Essex English Football League players