ARCHIE HUNTER
James Catton | 25/09/1916

Sometimes memories are like "echoes of dreamland." but I shall never forget the first time I saw Archie Hunter. It is difficult to remember everything that happened thirty-five years ago, but I have an idea that he had been conveyed by special train from Birmingham to Nottingham to play egainst Notts County on Trent Bridge ground. A figure of about 5ft. 9 1/2in., athletic, symmetrical, with head erect and upright in carriage, he was in the centre of the vanguard. He had the presence of a soldier. His hair was burnished auburn in tint. The vulgar described it as "ginger," and a synonym used by those rather more refined was "copper-topped." His moustache drooped. His ruddy face was pleasant in repose, but keen in action. His eyes glinted with earnestness.

Often he dribbled along the centre. As he advanced with perfect command of the ball the line moved with him what time he was giving instructions and directions. Having little to say in an armchair, he was a man transfigured on the field, for he talked all the time that he played. Cool and calculating, he was a real captain in the most exciting moments. With some captains duty ceases when they have tossed for choice of ends, but Archie Hunter considered every small detail.

There have been other players as great — if not greater. Mr. George Ramsay, who played with and against Geordie Ker, the famous Scottish centre, says that Hunter was neither such a close dribbler nor such a terrific shot as the Queen's Park wonder, but, added the Aston Villa secretary: "Archie had the personality to keep the team together, to hold them, to infuse into them the masterful spirit of one man." It was personality which made Hunter and Hunter made the Villa. George Ramsay laid the foundation, and Hunter raised the flag on the roof of the building.

I remember in 1882 when Andrew Hunter, Olley Whateley (right wing), Archie Hunter and Arthur Brown (centres), Eli Davis and Howard Vaughton (left wing) composed the forward line of Aston Villa. Whateley, Brown, and Vaughton were English international men, and the others were elever enough for such honours, for Eli Davis could centre and screw with any man, and Scotland lost the help of two dashing, skilled, and sure-shooting forwards when they considered that Scotsmen in England expatriated themselves.

STRONG IN PHYSIQUE AND PERSONALITY.

Archie Hunter was a strong man physically. When he shook hands he gripped a friend's palm as if it were no formality. The clinch was apt to make the unwary squirm. There was too, a force in his shoulder which made him a heaver when he was challenged or when there was an obstruction to be removed. He seemed to husband his strength rather than squander it, and that, I think, was why he was seldom tired.

Yet virile a man as he appeared to be, his temperament was the most marked asset of his equipment. There is no denying that he had the respect of his players, and had an astonishing influence over their work. He had all the enthusiasm of a boy until the day that he fell in a fit on the Everton ground during the progress of a match. His heart was in the strife. As the late William M'Gregor once wrote:— As a captain, no man had ever greater command over a team. He never allowed but one captain. He said little to his men, but his look was enough. He used tact and judgment in handling them, and by example carried them on to many a hardwon battle. The old Villans looked up to and revered their famous skipper."

This is not quite the view of Mr. G. B. Ramsay, because he says: "If the players did not do as he wanted, Archie let them know about it." That was my idea from what I saw of him. The lesson to be drawn is that clubs should endeavour to select as captain — not the best player — but he who can command his men, and has the qualities of a general.

A SPLENDID CENTRE-FORWARD.

Archibald Hunter came from the county of Ayr, which has produced so many talented players. Born at Joppa, near the town of Ayr, in 1859, he was a farmer's son, and educated principally at the Academy. At school he played football of a kind — a mixture of rules which more resembled the Rugby than the Association code. Even in those juvenile days he was singled out for leadership. As an adult he joined Ayr Thistle, and was a full-back under Rugby rules. But Ayr Thistle adopted the Association rule. Birmingham Calthorpe under- took a tour in Scotland, and met Ayr Thistle, with Archie Hunter in their ranks.

In August, 1878. Archie Hunter left Ayr for Birmingham, having accepted a situation in a hardware establishment. He migrated for business purposes. Of that there can be no doubt. It was an accident that the Villa secured his co-operation. Hunter intended to join the Calthorpe, and started one Saturday afternoon to discover their ground. But he failed to do so, and a brother warehouseman asked him to turn out in a game with the Villa, then at Perry Barr. He did so, and astounded the players and the few spectators by his dribbling. Finding George Ramsay in the camp, there was never afterwards any doubt of his adhesion to that club.

In the course of time he filled every position on the field, but his memory will ever be cherished as that of a centre-forward in an era when centres were not so extremely rare as nowadays. In Hunter's day there were a dozen fine centres. Where are such men now? They are scarce because they have not the supreme control of the ball, the power to hold it until the right second, discretion and directness in distribution, and the ability to shoot when within the zone. These were the strong points in Hunter's play, and they tended towards calculated passing and unity.

So far a I know thre are no statistics to show what Hunter accomplished. He did not care who shot the goals so long as they were got. His idea was not the glory of Archie Hunter, but the advancement of Aston Villa. Nevertheless his feats were numerous, but never more sensational than in 1880-81, when the Villa bounded to the fore and won no fewer than 17 matches in succession before meeting defeat. Yet Walsall Swifts conquered Aston Villa in the final for the Birmingham Cup by 1-0. The same clubs were destined to meet a week later at Stoke in the final for the Staffordshrie Cup, when the Villa crowned their season with a victory over the Swifts by 5-1. Archie Hunter scored four those goals, and a large poportion of the 93 credited to the Villa in that season which extended from October 2 to April 13. This event is recorded as an example of earnestness.

A TRUE SCOT

Archie Hunter played until his dazzling abilities deserted him. Still, Mr. William McGregor could not in all his experience recall any player who had been quite so much to his club as Archie Hunter was to the Villa. He was the sould of the clyb and the maker of history. Consumption claimed him, as well as his brothers Andrew and John. But when he was a pathetic figure nearing the shadowy coast he would be wheeled to the window of his chamber and watch the hosts hurrying to the arena where he had thrilled every fibre of legions.

A great-hearted son of "Caledonia stern and wild," he could dance a Highland fling and give a song — a Scottish song — with a depth of feeling in strong contrast to his hearty laugh. His favourite was, "Whaur are a' those bright eyes noo?" Here is a note of interrogation which has been struck millions of times during the last two years. Had Archie Hunter been now alive he would have said, as usual with him: "Ay, man, it's awfu."