Billy Hunter

Scottish-born Billy Hunter started his football career with Seafield FC before moving south to England, and joining Southern League side Millwall (then called Millwall Athletic) in 1904. He spent five seasons with the Londoners and was a goal-scoring winger with 43 goals from 153 games. He then moved to first division Bolton Wanderers who were relegated in his first season with the club. They gained promotion straight away and in his third and final season with the Lancashire club, they finished a creditable fourth in the top division. Hunter played only 53 games for Bolton, and scored 15 goals.

Hunter then took up coaching abroad, with his first position being at the Dutch side Dordrecht in 1912. In his second season he helped them to win the 1914 KNVB (Dutch Cup) for the first time in their history. It was also Hunter’s only honour as a coach. Prior to the outbreak of World War I, he coached the Dutch national team for four matches in 1914. After the hostilities, he coached Lausanne Sports of Switzerland in 1922/23, and the Jewish club, Hakoah Vienna (Wien) in 1923/24. In August 1923 he took Hakoah to London to play West Ham United, and they became the first Austrian club side to play on English soil. After leaving Austria, Hunter spent four seasons at Galtasaray and, during his time in Turkey, was appointed technical director to the national squad, and was in charge for 14 games (including the 1924 Olympics) between 1924-26.

After leaving Galatasary, Hunter went to the USA to look for work, as professional soccer was thriving in the States at that time. When the “crash” of 1930 came, however, so too did his chance of getting a job in soccer (football), and he ended up working as a gas station attendant in Queens. New York, up to the time of his death at the age of 51.