It’s the end of Reebok road for local lad Nicky
11:10pm Friday 30th July 2010 in Sport By Marc Iles
NICKY Hunt has ended a decade-long association with Wanderers by signing a two-year deal with Bristol City.
The Westhoughton-born full-back has not featured in the Premier League since March 2008 but boasts 143 starts in all competitions for the Whites.
After a succession of shoulder injuries, he found himself well down the pecking order under Gary Megson, and his successor Owen Coyle.
The 26-year-old spent time on loan at Birmingham City and Derby County in the last two years and turned down a permanent move to Plymouth Argyle last season.
Coyle praised the defender’s professionalism while he has been out of the team, but admitted his time at the club had run its course.
“I have spoken to Nicky at length and he’s a great lad,” he said. “But I think he recognises that, because he was out on loan last year and we have got Gretar Steinsson and Sam Ricketts in that area as well, it was going to be difficult.
“He goes with our blessing and it has just been down to unfortunate circumstances.”
Hunt – often described locally as ‘the boy from Daisy Hill’ – made his debut in 2001 as a substitute for Colin Hendry in the year Wanderers won promotion back to the Premier League. He had been picked up by the Whites Academy after bring released by Manchester United, and quickly became a first- team regular under Sam Allardyce, scoring his only goal for the club against Liverpool in February, 2004.
Hunt won 10 England Under-21 caps and was tipped by Allardyce to become the natural successor to Gary Neville in the senior international squad before injuries began to take their toll.
Despite a recurring shoulder problem, Sammy Lee also saw Hunt as an integral part of his back four, rewarding him with a new four-year deal in July 2007.
But things went downhill from there and, when Megson replaced Lee 10 games into the 2007/8 season, it was not long before injuries forced him into the background once more.
The right-back played in several UEFA Cup games, and made 24 appearances that season, but a brief substitute appearance against Arsenal nearly two years ago was the last time Hunt represented Wanderers in a competitive sense.
Hunt also achieved infamy in April last year when he was booked whilst warming up as a substitute at Portsmouth, becoming the first player to receive a caution but not to make an appearance in a Premier League season.
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