Golden Soft Sombrero Moment with Alan Hunter

NSL Clubs played for:            

Heidelberg United, Sydney United, Brisbane Strikers, Carlton

NSL Clubs coached:               

Sydney United

Green & Gold Honors:   

Socceroo appearances: 10                    Goals: 1 

Achievements:                       

Former hard-nosed Socceroo and Ericsson Cup Premiership winner who exchanged his well-worn jock strap for a place on the ABC TV -Big Match soccer commentary team in 1999.

Four Diegos Verdict:              

Big man with a great left foot, tackle from behind and head for radio.

Some Golden Soft Sombrero Moments with Alan Hunter

Hunter on becoming a special comments man…

Diegos: " You were a hard man as a player, uncompromising in the tackle, always nipping away at the heals of 'smart alec' pretty boy strikers.

When you got the gig with ABC TV, did you have to think about what sort of special comments man you were going to be? Was it going to be the Jessie 'The Body' Ventura angry special comments man or the Dalai Lama 'Everyone is Beautiful' special comments man?"

Hunter: " It's probably a combination of all the above but certainly I'm trying to become the Alan Hunter special comments man.

I try to be myself as much as l can and enjoy the game from the other side of the fence. I try to be as positive as l can and point out the highlights of the game.

You certainly can't lie about it, you've got to call it as you see it but l try to relay a little more information and create a good rapport with the players, coaches and referees.

Hopefully l can be regarded as an appropriate ambassador for the game by the spectators and fans." 

Diegos: “How much preparation do you put in before a match?

Hunter: “Probably a lot more than l did than when l was player.

I always trained as much as l had to but l was never one of those players you'd see dashing off to the gym or doing a few more kilometres after a loss. I was lucky to be born a gifted soccer player.

Hopefully I'm a gifted commentator because I started commentating way before l finished playing the game, it seems quite a natural thing for me to do."

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

Hunter on the TV experience…

Diegos: “The trend in televised sport is definitely to get as close to the sweat and spit of the action as possible, hence the emergence of the sidelines reporter.

The AFL has 'Dipper', the Mardi Gra has John Michael Howsen, and the Gulf War has CNN's Peter Arnott. ABC TV has you and Robbie Wheatley.

What's it like to be in amongst it all, having your finger on the pulse of seething throngs like the Perth Glory and the Northern Spirit supporters?"

Hunter: “I love it. It's fantastic.

It gives me another angle, and more experience. You get a different aspect of the game because you have the crowd behind you and you also have the coach’s boxes nearby.

It can be all very strange especially when you're trying to concentrate on the action for the full 90 minutes.

At times it can also be a quite funny. I did the Olyroo V China game a few weeks ago. I was actually sitting on the Olyroo bench doing my side-line report and within the first couple of minutes of the game commencing l was asked a curly question about a particular Olyroo player who happen to be sitting next to me at the time.

I sort of had to do a whispering Ted Lowe billiards impersonation. I hope l got away with it. Fortunately the player saw the funny side of it and still shook my hand after the game."

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

Hunter ‘Goaaaaaaaaoooooollllllll…

Diegos:" With respect to the greatest sports callers of our time such as Martin Tyler, Richie Benaud, Darrel Eastlake and Roy and HG, the Four Diegos admit that they favour the Brazilian soccer commentators.

Do you ever feel like unleashing a scream that lasts 45 seconds when a team scores a goal and if you do, can you let one go when Canberra scores next, they need it badly?"

Hunter: “I don't think that anyone would be capable of the commentator's scream that would do justice to Canberra if they score a goal, to be honest. I just don't possess that rolling tongue thing.

I would rather leave that to the main callers of this world. I'll let them get excited about the smaller things."

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

Hunter on TV coverage…

Diegos: “The Four Diegos asked our listeners and the readers of Australian Soccer Weekly to register their protest vote with Channel 7 over their paltry TV coverage of the Ericsson Cup.

You're in the know, you're now one of them, who is to blame, who do we E - Mail next and will it get better?"

Hunter: “It can only get better. How can't it get better? As you know we have the greatest game in the world.

I know l sound like a broken record but l reckon you've got to blame someone really powerful like Sepp Blatter. He may somehow feel responsible and do something about it.

A positive out of all this is that more people are watching soccer this year than ever before. Some journalist will say that this is only because of the crowds that Northern Spirit and Perth Glory are pulling but l prefer to think positively and say that we may just be making inroads into the Australian sports market.

The crowd figures are up around the 600,000 mark already and they can only get better."

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

Hunter on memorable quotes…

Diegos: “Great men have left their mark on human kind with some memorable quotes.

JFK - ' Ask not what your country can do for you but instead, what you can do for your country'

Martin Luther King - Who could ever forget ' I have a dream brother and sisters…'

And of course, The Four Diegos - ' When the fish stinks it stinks from the head'

In your short time in soccer commentating, you've come out with some beauties. On one occasion when Perth played Northern Spirit earlier this season, you said,

'Usually it takes two to tango but with John Markovski it takes three.'

It was a classic, is it something you work on?"

Hunter: " That's just something that l pulled from personal experience. John and l used to tango every night down at Optus Oval when l was at Carlton.

I've had to mark the big guy in the past and l think that he is the only player in Australian soccer history that was able to bounce me off the ball.

I have always been capable of coming out with a silly or a humorous comment and l think its something that needs to be done to create a little bit of atmosphere and bring a bit of colour to the game."

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

Hunter on the media…

Diegos: " When former players make the transition from playing to working in the media, most of their soccer playing mates become distrustful because they now see them as a voracious, evil, scoop hunting media devil.

When you were a player, what did you think of the media and how do your former playing colleagues relate to you now that you're the man with the microphone?"

Hunter: "I always thought as a player, the media were people that you had to use to your advantage. You didn't have to like them. I had that sort of attitude when l was a player. I didn't particularly care if anyone didn't like me, l was there to do a job and win the game. I suppose nothing has really changed."

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999