JIMMY TARBUCK led mourners at the funeral of 1966 World Cup hero Roger Hunt on Thursday morning.
The Liverpool ace, regarded as one of the Reds’ best-ever strikers, died last month at the age of 83 after a long illness.
The former forward will be forever remembered in the annals of football history for scoring three goals as part of the Three Lions squad 55 years ago.
His funeral is taking place in Liverpool today.
Those in attendance include entertainer Tarbuck and ex players Ian Callaghan, Kevin Keegan, Ian Rush, John Aldridge, David Johnson and Roy Evans.
A procession passed Anfield as rows of mourners pay their respects.
The hearse paused outside the gates of the iconic stadium, where a huge banner of Hunt had been hung on a fence.
Hunt is the second-highest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history.
He scored an astonishing 285 goals in 492 appearances during a spell of more than 11 years at the club.
He also earned 34 caps for England, scoring 18 times, including three goals in the famous World Cup of 1966.
The legend’s death was confirmed by his old club in late September.
In a short Twitter statement, Liverpool wrote: “We are mourning the passing of legendary former player Roger Hunt.
“The thoughts of everybody at Liverpool Football Club are with Roger’s family and friends at this sad and difficult time.
“Rest in peace, Sir Roger Hunt 1938 – 2021.”
Current Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said: “It’s really sad news and our thoughts and our love go to his family.
“Unfortunately, it feels too frequent in this moment we are saying farewell to these giants of our club.
“Roger Hunt comes second to no-one in his importance in the history of Liverpool FC, that much is clear.
“To be the goalscoring catalyst of the Shankly team to actually achieve promotion and then go on to win those precious league titles and the FA Cup puts him in a bracket of LFC legends who are responsible for making us the club we are today.
“Not only that, he was also a World Cup winner in 1966, too.
“I am told the Kop christened him ‘Sir Roger’ for all his achievements.
“A goalscorer who never stopped working to help his team-mates; I believe he would have fit in well within our current team.
“So, it is Sir Roger we will remember, honour and pay tribute to over the coming days.
“You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
