Paul Hunter (soccer, born 1956)

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Paul Hunter

| fullname =

| image =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|1|18}}

| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| height =

| position = Defender

| youthyears1 = 1971–1972

| youthclubs1 = Staples High School

| collegeyears1 = 1974–1976

| college1 = University of Connecticut

| years1 = 1977

| years2 = 1978–1980

| years3 = 1979–1980

| years4 = 1980–1981

| years5 = 1981

| clubs1 = New York Cosmos

| clubs2 = Detroit Express

| clubs3 = Detroit Express (indoor)

| clubs4 = Tulsa Roughnecks (indoor)

| clubs5 = Tulsa Roughnecks

| caps1 = 3

| caps2 = 59

| caps3 = 9

| caps4 = 9

| caps5 = 20

| goals1 = 0

| goals2 = 0

| goals3 = 2

| goals4 = 2

| goals5 = 0

}}

Paul Hunter (born January 18, 1956) is a Canadian-born retired soccer player. He played for the University of Connecticut Huskies and spent five seasons in the North American Soccer League. His position was defender.

High school and college

While born in Canada, Hunter and his brother Tim grew up in Westport, Connecticut where he attended Staples High School. Staples won the 1971 Connecticut state championship Hunter's junior year. While the team repeated as champions in 1972, Hunter shattered his leg mid-season, putting him out for the rest of the year.[http://www.staplessoccer.com/history4_000.html Staples soccer history] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101107081642/http://www.staplessoccer.com/history4_000.html |date=2010-11-07 }} He then attended the University of Connecticut, playing on the men's soccer team from 1974 to 1976. He was selected as an honourable mention (third team) All American in 1975 and a first team All American his senior season.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nscaa.com/awards-src.php |title=NSCAA All Americans |access-date=2008-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115150942/http://www.nscaa.com/awards-src.php |archive-date=2006-11-15 |url-status=dead }} He was also team captain that season.[http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/msoccer/2004/Guide/HISTory.pdf UConn Soccer History]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Professional

Hunter signed with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1977. He played only three games and transferred to the Detroit Express where he became a regular starter for two seasons. In 1980, he played only five games for the Express and in 1981, found himself with the Tulsa Roughnecks where he played twenty games. He also played NASL indoor during the 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons.

Hunter was inducted into the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004.[http://home.att.net/~g.archer/sasl/2006/cshof.html Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}