- Archie Hunter
Football player infobox
playername= Archie Hunter
fullname = Archibald Hunter
height =
weight =
dateofbirth = birth date|1859|9|23 cite news|url=http://web.telia.com/~u27301997/677.html|title=Archie Hunter Bio|publisher=Aston Villa database]
cityofbirth = Joppa,Ayrshire
countryofbirth =Scotland
dateofdeath = Death date and age|1894|11|29|1859|9|23
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Forward
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = ?
1878–1890
clubs = Ayr Thistle
Aston Villa
caps(goals) = ? (?)
73 (42)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears =
managerclubs =Archibald "Archie" Hunter (
September 23 ,1859 , Joppa, nr.Ayr ,Scotland – 1894,Aston ,Birmingham ,England ), was the first captain of Aston Villa to lift theFA Cup , in 1887, and arguably Villa's greatest ever captain.Hunter played at Third Lanark, Ayr Thistle, and Aston Villa (August 1878). His Aston Villa career began 10 years before the commencement of the first Football League season. In his league career (1888-1891) he played 73 matches scoring 42 goals.
Despite being one of the greats of the 19th century game, Hunter never fulfilled his dream of playing for Scotland against England. This is because at the time the
Scottish Football Association had a policy of not picking 'Anglo-Scots' (ie Scots who played in the English League).Legend has it that Hunter originally came to Birmingham planning to sign for
Calthorpe FC , but after failing to locate them was persuaded to sign for Villa instead byGeorge Ramsay .He became the first player to score in every round of the FA Cup in Villa's victorious 1887 campaign.
During a
Football League match against Everton in 1890 Hunter suffered a heart attack and collapsed. He never played again, and died at the age of 35. It is said that, on his death-bed, he asked to be lifted up one last time to see the crowd going toPerry Barr (then Villa's home).His brother Andy also played for Villa.
In 1998, Archie Hunter was inducted into the English Football League's list of 100 legends.
The headstone on his grave reads:
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
