Fergus Hunt was born is 1876. Sadly he is one of those players of whom nothing is known outside his work in football. There are no details of his career, his family life, nor even of the year of his death. If you know any details please add a comment.
Fergus started out with Mexborough and then moved to Middlesbrough Ironopolis in 1893, a club who played in the second division with Arsenal for one season before closing, following the loss of their ground.
After moving out of football for the 1894/5 season he joined Darwen for whom he scored 27 goals in 57 games over the next two seasons.
Fergus joined Woolwich Arsenal in May 1897 and immediately became the top scorer, getting fifteen goals in each of the 1897-98 and 1898-99 seasons.
In 1900, having seen his place taken by Frank Lloyd he joined West Ham, who had just gained a place in the Southern League for the 1900/1 season. As a result of their election West Ham were going through a period of buying players wholesale, and then making a team from what they had acquired, and in addition to Hunt their purchases included Hugh Monteith (Bristol City) Freddie Fenton (Gainsborough), George Radcliffe (Grimsby Town), James Reid (Port Vale), Albert Kaye (Chatham) and Billy Grassam (Port Vale). Fergus stayed with WHU for the next two seasons.
In October 1902 he returned to Arsenal for three games but then moved on to Fulham. Later he played for Burton United and Shildon Athletic and retired from football in 1907. (Shildon are now known as Shildon AFC and play in the Northern League Division One)
All told he played 72 league games for Arsenal and scored 30 goals plus nine FA Cup games with five goals. Here are the details of the league games.
Games | Goals | |
1897/98 | 22 | 12 |
1898/99 | 31 | 15 |
1899/1900 | 16 | 2 |
1902/03 | 3 | 1 |
Total | 72 | 30 |
Elsewhere….
The books…
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal FC: crowd behaviour at the early matches
Fergus died in Newcastle-upon-Lyme in the first quarter of 1953, aged 78.
He was living in Harperly in County Durham by 1911 and working as a coal miner
Fergus was also a General Labourer in Plumstead in 1901
Fergus Hunt was my Great Grandfather , he died in 1953 as a result of an accident, not in Newcasle-upon- Lyme wherever that maybe. He lived in Fir Tree County Durham.
Thanks Norma. Newcastle under Lyme is in Staffordshire.
Fergus, my 2nd great grandfather, was crossing the road when hit by a car and he subsequently passed away. My mother recalls receiving the phone call notifying the family of his passing.