Roger Hunt Portrait Donated to Warrington College by Family

The family of Roger Hunt, the Liverpool striker who won the World Cup with England in 1966, has given a portrait of him to Warrington & Vale Royal College. It will hang in the college’s Roger Hunt Building, which is named after him and which he formally opened in 2006.

His daughter Julie and son David presented it on Thursday 15 October, the college said in its announcement. They came with the artist, Paul Marshall Johnson, who painted it.

A building with his name on it for 20 years

The Roger Hunt Building has stood on the college’s Warrington campus for 20 years. The college says it recognises both his sporting record and “his close links to the local area”.

Hunt was known to Liverpool supporters as “Sir Roger”. The college describes him as a key member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad and one of Liverpool’s all-time leading goal scorers. He died in September 2021, aged 83.

The portrait will be displayed permanently inside the building. It houses the college’s Sports, Military and Emergency Services Academy, which trains students heading for careers in those fields.

What the family and the artist said

Julie Hunt said the family had been given a tour of the building. “We particularly enjoyed seeing the achievements of former students proudly displayed on the walls,” she said. “My dad would have loved to hear their stories, learn about their ambitions, and share in their hopes for the future.”

She said the family hoped the portrait would remind students “of what can be achieved through hard work, determination and a belief in oneself”.

Paul Marshall Johnson said Hunt had been his hero since he was five. “Creating my Roger Hunt portrait was a dream come true,” he said.

He also told a story from his time working with the family. He had given Julie a portrait of John Lennon he had painted, and she later texted to say she had put it on her bedroom wall. “Sixty years earlier, I had put a picture of her dad on my own bedroom wall,” he said. “That was a truly surreal moment.”

Matt Bold, the college’s curriculum manager for sport, military and emergency services, received the portrait. “It is fitting that this artwork will have a permanent home within the building that proudly bears his name,” he said.

What it means for you

The portrait is now part of a working college building rather than a public gallery, so it is students and visitors to the campus who will see it. If you are thinking about a course there, the college lists its upcoming open evenings on its website.