Retro Football: Ernie Hunt scores for Coventry with the ‘donkey kick’

Ollie Irish

9th, October 2020

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Almost 50 years ago to the day, at Highfield Road, Coventry forward Ernie Hunt (pictured, below) scored against then-champions Everton with what was to become known as the ‘donkey kick’.

Willie Carr flicked the ball up behind his back and Hunt applied the finishing touch. At the time, it was a pretty outrageous thing to do. Even now, it would raise an eyebrow or two.

Aggrieved Everton boss Harry Catterick said after the match it was “like something out of a circus”, and the method of free-kick was churlishly banned at the end of that season (although it is now legal again), because it was deemed that the ball had not travelled “its full circumference either forwards or backwards”. One consolation: it won the BBC’s Goal of the Season award.

P.S. If you listen closely, you’ll hear a piercing wolf whistle ring out at in between Carr’s flick and Hunt’s strike. Marvellous.