SINCE HE STARTED his senior career 25 years ago, all Noel Hunt has known is football.
Yet the 43-year-old admits the industry’s fickle nature can be off-putting.
The ex-Ireland international is best remembered for his time at Reading, where he scored 33 goals in 145 appearances, including 24 games in the Premier League.
Nine years after departing the Royals as a player, he returned in a coaching capacity.
Hunt joined as senior professional development coach in 2022, before replacing Paul Ince as interim manager just over a year later.
Then, in December 2024, after Rubén Sellés left for Hull City, the Irishman was appointed permanent head coach.
It began promisingly, with Hunt winning the League One Manager of the Month award the following March. However, he exited less than a year into a two-and-a-half-year contract last October, with the club sitting 19th in the table.
Hunt is not the only Irish coach across the water to suffer from football clubs’ need for instant success.
Glenn Whelan was one of the first managerial casualties of the new season. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Last year, Athlone native Alan Sheehan was dismissed just six months into a three-year deal at Swansea City.
Another former Ireland international, Conor Hourihane, lasted only a year as permanent boss at Barnsley before departing at the end of last season, despite winning a League One Manager of the Month award in that time.
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A rare exception is Brian Barry-Murphy, who has achieved swift success, guiding Cardiff City to League One promotion during his first season in charge.
Hunt admits he found it “hard” to leave a club with which he had a big affiliation.
“But that’s football,” he says. “It’s a great game, and it can be a shit business. That’s the reality of it. But we’ll go back and do it again.
“It’s my life; it’s what I’m addicted to; it’s what I love doing. Even the day I left Reading as a player, I was upset and gutted, but I was grateful. And as I left as a manager, I was upset and gutted, but I was grateful for the opportunity. I love the experience, the pressure. I definitely had a few more sleepless nights; that’s for sure. But in terms of that, I get it.”
Hunt lasted less than a year as permanent manager of Reading. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
For the last few years, Hunt has been developing an app with a couple of associates focused on work-life balance “for players, managers, high-performing people, not just in sports”.
His departure from Reading meant he could at least give this project more time and focus.
Yet it still felt strange – leaving the Royals and suddenly having no purpose – after being immersed in senior football for almost a quarter of a century.
“They say you’re not really a manager until you get sacked,” he adds. “I’m still in that category of how it works, and how you learn from the process of what happens. And the stages you go through after it does happen. I was happy; I was sad. I had the first Christmas off in 26 years. So having a Christmas Day at home was weird, really weird. Having a Stephen’s Day at home – it’s my birthday. Not opening presents until after a game was something I always did. But this year, I went: ‘Oh no, actually I can.’ So it was different.
“You go through all the stages of grief, the release, the boredom. And my wife was really good – she booked things at the end of every month for three or four months, because she said, ‘You’re going to take the time off and just recalibrate, refresh.’ And that’s probably the best thing I’ve done.”
Ireland's Noel Hunt with Miodrag Dzudovic of Montenegro during a 2010 World Cup qualifier. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
For better or worse, Hunt eventually returned to the football industry.
Hunt is one of five international lead coaches working across Ireland’s underage teams, from U15 to U19 level.
The system for bringing through players is conceivably more streamlined than ever, yet Hunt knows better than most that it is imperfect.
He was a late developer himself, moving across the water at 20, after two seasons in the League of Ireland.
By the time he made his international debut, Hunt was a month shy of his 26th birthday.
“There’s no chance I would have been there [at U15s to U19s level]. I was nowhere near that,” he says.
“I was a goalkeeper at 5’4, in Waterford, playing outfield when I could. I wouldn’t have been good enough to be there. So there will be that one that pops up around the corner that’s 18, 19, that’ll show up on our radar and will come through as a late developer. So as great as we have the streamline, there will be one or two that we cannot forget about or take out of the equation.”
Hunt cites former teammate Tyrone Mings, now at Aston Villa, as a prime example of a late developer. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Hunt cites Aston Villa centre-back and England international Tyrone Mings, who he played with at Ipswich Town, as a prime example.
“He was playing non-league [as a youngster]. We’ll have plenty of them, I’m sure.”
Hunt is a bubbly personality. Even as a young player, he had great confidence and an optimistic outlook. In the early 2000s, when Celtic played Shamrock Rovers in a friendly, the striker approached Martin O’Neill and informed the Bhoys manager that he would be hearing more about him in years to come.
Young players now, he believes, are different.
They are more of a quieter generation – technology doesn’t help that in terms of how we communicate,” he says. “I think it’s a skill. Being able to speak and hold a conversation and be eye to eye, that’s something that we’ve got to make sure our players understand. You can’t WhatsApp or Snapchat, whatever they do these days, your player, ‘man on’. You have to be able to tell them, and you have to be able to give information. It’s something I’ve had to do at Reading, from the first team down to the 21s, to Swindon [where he had a brief stint as caretaker manager in 2020].
“The best teams [I was part of] were the best talkers. They could communicate, could express whatever it was, even at half-time, nice or not. We mustn’t lose that. We can’t lose that honesty, that skill of communicating with each other. It could be the difference between you running 25 yards to recover or running four yards to win the ball back.
“Kids are now starting to use laptops in school – bringing home a laptop and a tablet to work on. It’s happening with my kids. Am I happy about it? No. Are we going to keep them writing forever? Probably not.
“It’s just finding ways we can evolve – that’s part of our development as well. With conversations about what we’re going to do, how we’re going to get these kids to know each other really quickly. Most of them do, but a few boys coming to camp are new to it. You don’t want that awkwardness. You want to make sure they fit right in and feel at home because I believe you play your best football when you are comfortable, relaxed and in that mode of: ‘I know what I’m doing, I’m in control.’”
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'It's a great game, and it can be a s**t business'
SINCE HE STARTED his senior career 25 years ago, all Noel Hunt has known is football.
Yet the 43-year-old admits the industry’s fickle nature can be off-putting.
The ex-Ireland international is best remembered for his time at Reading, where he scored 33 goals in 145 appearances, including 24 games in the Premier League.
Nine years after departing the Royals as a player, he returned in a coaching capacity.
Hunt joined as senior professional development coach in 2022, before replacing Paul Ince as interim manager just over a year later.
Then, in December 2024, after Rubén Sellés left for Hull City, the Irishman was appointed permanent head coach.
It began promisingly, with Hunt winning the League One Manager of the Month award the following March. However, he exited less than a year into a two-and-a-half-year contract last October, with the club sitting 19th in the table.
Hunt is not the only Irish coach across the water to suffer from football clubs’ need for instant success.
During the week, Glenn Whelan was sacked after just nine games in charge of Scottish second-tier side Livingston.
Last year, Athlone native Alan Sheehan was dismissed just six months into a three-year deal at Swansea City.
Another former Ireland international, Conor Hourihane, lasted only a year as permanent boss at Barnsley before departing at the end of last season, despite winning a League One Manager of the Month award in that time.
A rare exception is Brian Barry-Murphy, who has achieved swift success, guiding Cardiff City to League One promotion during his first season in charge.
Hunt admits he found it “hard” to leave a club with which he had a big affiliation.
“But that’s football,” he says. “It’s a great game, and it can be a shit business. That’s the reality of it. But we’ll go back and do it again.
“It’s my life; it’s what I’m addicted to; it’s what I love doing. Even the day I left Reading as a player, I was upset and gutted, but I was grateful. And as I left as a manager, I was upset and gutted, but I was grateful for the opportunity. I love the experience, the pressure. I definitely had a few more sleepless nights; that’s for sure. But in terms of that, I get it.”
For the last few years, Hunt has been developing an app with a couple of associates focused on work-life balance “for players, managers, high-performing people, not just in sports”.
His departure from Reading meant he could at least give this project more time and focus.
Yet it still felt strange – leaving the Royals and suddenly having no purpose – after being immersed in senior football for almost a quarter of a century.
“They say you’re not really a manager until you get sacked,” he adds. “I’m still in that category of how it works, and how you learn from the process of what happens. And the stages you go through after it does happen. I was happy; I was sad. I had the first Christmas off in 26 years. So having a Christmas Day at home was weird, really weird. Having a Stephen’s Day at home – it’s my birthday. Not opening presents until after a game was something I always did. But this year, I went: ‘Oh no, actually I can.’ So it was different.
“You go through all the stages of grief, the release, the boredom. And my wife was really good – she booked things at the end of every month for three or four months, because she said, ‘You’re going to take the time off and just recalibrate, refresh.’ And that’s probably the best thing I’ve done.”
For better or worse, Hunt eventually returned to the football industry.
Six months after leaving Reading, the Football Association of Ireland announced the Waterford native was part of a new full-time international coaching structure.
Hunt is one of five international lead coaches working across Ireland’s underage teams, from U15 to U19 level.
The system for bringing through players is conceivably more streamlined than ever, yet Hunt knows better than most that it is imperfect.
He was a late developer himself, moving across the water at 20, after two seasons in the League of Ireland.
By the time he made his international debut, Hunt was a month shy of his 26th birthday.
“There’s no chance I would have been there [at U15s to U19s level]. I was nowhere near that,” he says.
“I was a goalkeeper at 5’4, in Waterford, playing outfield when I could. I wouldn’t have been good enough to be there. So there will be that one that pops up around the corner that’s 18, 19, that’ll show up on our radar and will come through as a late developer. So as great as we have the streamline, there will be one or two that we cannot forget about or take out of the equation.”
Hunt cites Aston Villa centre-back and England international Tyrone Mings, who he played with at Ipswich Town, as a prime example.
“He was playing non-league [as a youngster]. We’ll have plenty of them, I’m sure.”
Hunt is a bubbly personality. Even as a young player, he had great confidence and an optimistic outlook. In the early 2000s, when Celtic played Shamrock Rovers in a friendly, the striker approached Martin O’Neill and informed the Bhoys manager that he would be hearing more about him in years to come.
Young players now, he believes, are different.
“The best teams [I was part of] were the best talkers. They could communicate, could express whatever it was, even at half-time, nice or not. We mustn’t lose that. We can’t lose that honesty, that skill of communicating with each other. It could be the difference between you running 25 yards to recover or running four yards to win the ball back.
“Kids are now starting to use laptops in school – bringing home a laptop and a tablet to work on. It’s happening with my kids. Am I happy about it? No. Are we going to keep them writing forever? Probably not.
“It’s just finding ways we can evolve – that’s part of our development as well. With conversations about what we’re going to do, how we’re going to get these kids to know each other really quickly. Most of them do, but a few boys coming to camp are new to it. You don’t want that awkwardness. You want to make sure they fit right in and feel at home because I believe you play your best football when you are comfortable, relaxed and in that mode of: ‘I know what I’m doing, I’m in control.’”
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