John Hunter (footballer)

John "Sailor" Hunter (6 April 1878 – 12 January 1966) was a Scottish football player and manager. He is most notable as Motherwell's first and longest-serving manager, guiding the team to their only League title in the 1931–32 season.

Playing career

Hunter was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, and at the age of 18 he signed for Abercorn, who had been relegated to Division Two the previous season. While Abercorn did not improve any during his time there – in his final season they finished bottom of the Second Division and thus bottom of the League, Hunter was duly signed by Liverpool. He was part of the Liverpool side that won their first ever First Division Championship in 1900–01 but a year later he moved back to Scotland, signing for Hearts for £300 in a joint transfer with Tom Robertson. He was part of the Hearts side that lost the 1903 Scottish Cup Final to Rangers.

In 1904 he joined Woolwich Arsenal in a £165 transfer, playing 22 times for them in 1904–05 before joining Portsmouth of the Southern League. It was when he joined Dundee in 1907, that he became a prolific goalscorer and earned his only cap for Scotland in a 3–2 defeat by Wales at Wrexham. In the 1910 Scottish Cup Final Dundee were up against a strong Clyde team who had knocked out the champions Celtic 3–1 in the semi-final, and were 2–0 up in the final with six minutes to play, when Hunter scored a goal to give Dundee hope. Two minutes later Dundee equalised. The first replay ended in a 0–0 draw but Dundee won the second replay 2–1 with Hunter getting the winning second goal. He signed for Clyde in September 1910, but injury forced him to retire six months later, without making an appearance for the club.