Airport chats, Bristol Rovers and tough times: Sheffield Wednesday hero Jack Hunt fired up for what's next
Jack Hunt played 180 times for Sheffield Wednesday across two spells and is fondly remembered by Owls fans. A free agent this summer after a release from Bristol Rovers was confirmed, he spoke to Alex Miller on what’s happened since - and what’s next.
Any parent will tell you it’s not easy navigating an airport departure lounge with a young family. Shuffling through the stress of endless chuffing queues, through security checks and excitable offspring refusing to just do as they’re chuffing told, the correct gate always seems to be on the other side of the chuffing world. It’s hot, it’s nine quid for a butty and there’s a heavily refreshed stag do making too much noise.
It’s quite possible Jack Hunt was living through all of that earlier this month when making his way through Manchester Airport as he made his way to a post-season family holiday. Dragging luggage from A to B, he heard his name called from a crowd. It happened again a little later. And in front of his two young daughters, he was in those moments a superhero, thanked by strangers for playing his role in the happiest of memories.
“Whenever I see anyone that's Wednesday, it's always nice,” he told The Star. “The kids are at an age now that they take it in and they smile. I had it twice in the airport and they were really happy with that. Normally, only the forward players get that sort of stuff but I had two great spells and I look back at it so fondly. To have the first spell with two play-off campaigns and not get promoted, then to come back and do it in such an incredibly way was mad. We were ahead for four seconds in that play-off campaign! Mad.”
Hunt speaks as a soon-to-be free agent after Bristol Rovers after the relegated League One side confirmed he would be leaving the club at the end of his contract next month. Now 34, his was a turbulent two-year stint on the Avon that saw stints out of the side and difficult circumstance in an ever-changing and ultimately doomed environment. He played 48 times across the two campaigns, scoring three times and nailing four assists - and leaves with a sense of unease and frustration as to how things went. It’s an experience that he says has put extra motivation into whatever comes next.
A Leeds lad, his young family are based in West Yorkshire and among a few options following his glorious and final Hillsborough in 2023, he was persuaded to climb aboard a seemingly ambitious project with then-boss Joey Barton. He’d live alone in an apartment on the waterfront and in-line with the manager’s own family commitments in Liverpool, there would be scope for time off to see with his kids. Within a few months, Barton was sacked.
“He’d convinced me,” Hunt said. “In an ideal world I didn't really want to go that far but once you get into your 30s it's about enjoying your football for however long you can carry on for. I felt I could do that there. I felt the strengths of how he had the team suited me and aligned with how I wanted to play as well.
“If the kids had been any younger I wouldn't have even considered it. The schedule changed and that was tough. We spoke about allowing me time to get up and spend some time with them but it didn't happen in the end.
“I went down as part of one project and you don't really know what to expect from the next one. The schedule was a big thing under Joey as that would allow us to go back up to check in with the family a bit. But everyone has their own ways on how they want to work and under Matt (Taylor, Barton’s replacement) that schedule changed. I’d missed pre-season, I was always playing catch-up and I got a couple of injuries. It was difficult to catch a rhythm.”
After a debut season that saw play 27 times, the Summer of 2025 arrived with what Hunt saw as a positive mutual understanding of where his future lay. He expressed his desire to find a new club closer to his kids and Rovers made clear they were on board, wanting to build a squad with closer ties to Bristol, with longer-term profiles suited to building towards promotion to the Championship in the coming seasons.
“I'd never had it so transparent that a club wanted to move on and that was great for me. I wanted to move back north to my family,” he remembered of a start to the 2024/25 campaign that would see him left out of the squad not only for their first seven league matches, but for a Carabao Cup trip to Cardiff City. Despite what had been discussed as a mutual desire to shake hands and facilitate an exit, Hunt said a proposed move to a club in the same division was pulled by Gas hierarchy and left him stranded.
“Out of respect I won't name the club, but a northern team came in for me late on,” he said. “Bristol Rovers said I couldn't go. I obviously expressed my desire to get it done and the next day I got a text early in the morning saying I would be getting changed and training alone. I probably should have asked more questions, but I couldn't figure out what was going on. They obviously didn't want me around the group, which is fine, but to turn down an opportunity to get me out it didn't sit right with me if I'm really honest.”
The twists and turns never ceased. After Taylor’s sacking in December as the realities of a relegation battle became more prevalent, caretaker boss David Horseman asked Hunt to act as assistant manager in the dugout for his two-match spell, a role he took on willingly. Under Iñigo Calderón, the former Owl was pulled back into the side and finally got the run of minutes he’d wished for, putting on 14 contributions of 80 minutes or more from February onwards.
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Sadly, the wheels of motion on Rovers’ form went unchecked and they were relegated. As a two-time League One promotion winner with close to 300 Championship appearances, it’s a dip on his CV that has hurt Hunt.
“It's so difficult, not only for the club but for me personally,” he said. “I'd obviously played for the other side of the city (Hunt spent three season with Bristol City between Owls spells) and so you just want to get off to a good start and get some rhythm going, get a rapport going with the fans. I’m gutted for them and they never saw me with a real run at it. It was so bit-part, you might have half the fanbase thinking I was injury prone or whatever, maybe half that had a bit more of an understanding.
“I played a part from January onwards and it was sad we couldn't stay in the league. There are so many factors to why Bristol Rovers are a League Two club now, it's hard to put it to one thing. I’m just sorry for the supporters.
So what’s next? Hunt is already in talks with clubs with regard to his next destination and what is clear in a half-hour conversation is that he’s as hungry as ever to bounce back from a difficult couple of seasons. At 34 he has absolutely no thought of retirement and is looking to contribute positively to another spell in the EFL - at the highest level possible. He’s open to opportunities.
“I'm really hungry and I've got a lot of fire in my belly over what I've experienced in the last 12 or 18 months,” he continued. “I would definitely like to be somewhere I feel wanted and I want to be part of a good environment, that's the main thing for me. I want to play as high as I can and I just want to play football. I'll enjoy my summer, but I'll be training really hard to make sure I'm ready to prove a point.”
So to the airport, to Owls adulation and to memories of a club he described to his family as ‘home’ when he re-signed in 2021. The summer is uncertain for so many clubs and individuals in football and as things stand, Wednesday share the who-knows-what nature of the next few weeks. What is crystal clear is that the right-back looks back at his time at Wednesday in such fond terms - whereas those from the stands remember him as the whole-hearted, gum-chewing promotion hero that so nearly claimed a Wembley glorious assist to cap five seasons, two stints and so many memories.
“It's the first result I check after a game,” he smiled. “It was an incredible survival and this season fell off but it was definitely one of progression. Hopefully the club can take another step forward heading into this season. I read a lot of what is going on and I still know a lot of the guys obviously, I just hope everything can be positive.
“It's nice to know I'll always be able to come back and get a warm welcome and I'd like to do so long into my retirement, bring my girls and come back to watch some games.
“The last kick of a football at Hillsborough was the penalty, which is a lovely way to sign off now I look back at it. I'd love to come back with another team and play there again just one more time, though I can't see it happening.”
Carabao Cup? FA Cup? Football has a funny way of making these things happen. Whether that last kick at Hillsborough does prove to be the penalty that capped the greatest play-off comeback of all-time remains to be seen. Whether or not he returns as a player, for a half-time raffle as an ex-player or in an airport departure lounge, that warm Wednesdayite welcome is always very much guaranteed.