English footballer (1943–2020)
Norman Hunter (29 October 1943 – 17 April 2020) was an English professional footballer who played for Leeds United, Bristol City, Barnsley and the England national team. He also managed Barnsley and Rotherham United. A tough tackling centre-back and defensive midfielder, he won two League Championship medals and one FA Cup-winners medal with Leeds, for whom he played 726 games in total, scoring 21 goals.
Hunter played in 28 full internationals for England, scoring twice. He was a member of England's 1966 FIFA World Cup winning squad but, as understudy to Bobby Moore, he did not play in the tournament. He was the first winner of the PFA Players' Player of the Year award in 1974, and was included in the "Football League 100 Legends", published in 1998.
An early victim of COVID-19 when the pandemic began in 2020, Hunter was admitted to hospital on 10 April after testing positive. He died of the disease a week later, aged 76. On 23 April, Leeds United announced that the South Stand at its Elland Road stadium would be renamed the Norman Hunter South Stand in his honour.
Early life.
Norman Hunter was born on 29 October 1943 at Eighton Banks, County Durham. His father, Norman senior, died before he was born. Hunter and his brother Robert were brought up by their mother, Betty, with the help of her sister and two football-playing uncles. He attended Eighton Banks Primary School till he was eleven and then went to Birtley Secondary Modern School till he was 15. He played junior football throughout his school years and, in his autobiography, recalled how one teacher tried to make him become a right-footed player. However, another teacher realised that Hunter had real potential as a left-footed player and encouraged him to develop his natural game. He joined Birtley Juniors FC and had played in only a few games before he was spotted by a talent scout working for Leeds United. After playing in a trial match for Leeds United Juniors against Bradford Park Avenue Juniors, Hunter was invited to join the ground staff at Elland Road. He had just left school and gave up a job as an electrical fitter to pursue his football career.
Playing career.
Leeds United.
Ground staff to First Division.
Leeds were in the First Division when Hunter arrived at Elland Road in the summer of 1959. The team manager was Jack Taylor, who had taken over from Bill Lambton on 1 May 1959. Lambton had signed Don Revie from Sunderland in November 1958 and Billy Bremner, a Scottish Schoolboys international, soon afterwards.
Leeds had been promoted from the Second Division in 1955–56, the season in which Jack Charlton became a first team regular, but they had struggled since John Charles left in May 1957, and were relegated after the 1959–60 season. In March 1961, with the team in the lower half of the Second Division table, Taylor resigned and Revie took over as player-manager until March 1962 when he retired as a player and became the full-time manager. This was significant for young players like Hunter and Bremner because Revie initiated a youth development policy which was the basis of the club's future success. Among those who graduated were Paul Reaney, Peter Lorimer, Terry Cooper, Eddie Gray, and Paul Madeley.
Hunter's graduation was in the 1962–63 season when Revie promoted him to the first team. He and Paul Reaney made their debuts in a Second Division match against Swansea Town at Vetch Field on 8 September 1962, Leeds winning 2–0. Hunter formed a central defence partnership with Jack Charlton which lasted for over a decade. Leeds finished fifth in 1962–63, Hunter playing in 36 of their 42 matches, and then won the Second Division title in 1963–64, Hunter playing in all 42 matches. Leeds returned to the First Division where, for the rest of Hunter's career with them, they were one of the strongest and most competitive teams in both English and European football. Hunter was a consistent performer, playing in over forty matches per season from 1962–63 to 1974–75; and was an ever-present in five seasons.
1964–65.
Hunter made an immediate impact on the First Division in 1964–65 and, only two months into the season on 28 October 1964 (the day before his 21st birthday), he was selected to play for the Football League XI against the Irish League XI in Belfast. The Football League XI won 4–0. A week later, he made his debut for the England under-23 (u-23) team against Wales u-23 on the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. His Leeds team-mate, goalkeeper Gary Sprake, was playing for Wales u-23. England won 3–2.
Although they were newly promoted, Leeds had an exceptional season in 1964–65 and performed a "runners-up double" by finishing second in the league to Manchester United on goal average; and losing 2–1, after extra time, to Liverpool in the 1965 FA Cup final. Hunter made 51 appearances for Leeds in all competitions, missing only one league match. He also played in three matches for the England u-23s and two for the Football League XI.
1965–66.
Leeds began the 1965–66 season with a home match against Sunderland on 21 August 1965. They did not play well and struggled to break the Sunderland defence, even after George Mulhall was sent off in the second half. Four minutes from time, the ball ran loose in the Sunderland penalty area and Hunter, running forward in support, met it near the penalty spot and volleyed home to give Leeds a 1–0 win.
Hunter continued to play a key role in the Leeds defence and his form impressed England manager Alf Ramsey, who included him in the squad for a match against Spain at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on 8 December 1965. Hunter was a substitute and he replaced Joe Baker in the 43rd minute, thereby making his full international debut. He played as a defensive midfielder and that allowed Ramsey to deploy both Bobby Charlton and Alan Ball in more attacking roles as England won 2–0.
Leeds did well in the league again and were runners-up to Liverpool, albeit six points adrift. They gained 55 points from their 42 matches, the same as Burnley with Leeds having the better goal average. Hunter played in 41 of the 42 League matches and scored five goals, his highest total in a single season. Leeds had less success in the two domestic cup competitions, losing 4–2 at home to West Bromwich Albion in the third round of the League Cup (West Brom went on to win the tournament); and losing 1–0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Leeds had qualified for the 1965–66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and progressed to the semi-finals with Hunter an ever-present in their eleven matches. They had victories over Torino (2–1 on aggregate), SC Leipzig (2–1), Valencia (2–1), and Újpesti Dózsa (5–2). In the semi-final, they drew 2–2 on aggregate with Real Zaragoza but lost the replay 3–1.
1966 to 1973.
Hunter was a key player for Leeds throughout this period as they became one of the strongest teams in Europe by reaching five European finals while he played for them. They qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup again in 1966–67 and this time reached the two-leg final against Dinamo Zagreb. Hunter played in both matches but Leeds lost 2–0 on aggregate.
Leeds won both the Football League Cup and the Fairs Cup in 1967–68. In the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium, they met Arsenal and won the match with a goal scored by Terry Cooper after 20 minutes. The match was reported as a "poor do", and as a "a drab and dull game for the neutrals", but it was one in which Hunter excelled as he and Cooper were rated its best players. Hunter's performance was described as "distinguished".
In the 1967–68 Fairs Cup, Leeds reached the final following successive wins against Scotland's Hibernian, Rangers, and Dundee. The two-legged final was against Hungary's Ferencváros, who were rated a "crack outfit" and "probably [Leeds'] biggest test yet". They had defeated Liverpool "en route" to the final. In the first leg at Elland Road, Ferencváros played a defensive game and their coach said before the match that "a draw will suit us in Leeds". Hunter came close to scoring early on but Leeds struggled to capitalise on their attacking opportunities. Mick Jones scored the only goal of the match in the 41st minute. Leeds were not expected to win the second leg in Budapest. The match was played only three weeks after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and, as Hungarian forces had been involved, there were concerns that the match might be cancelled. Ferencváros had to play their normal attacking game in this match and the Leeds defence, including Hunter, faced "its sternest test yet". They held on and the match was goalless, so Leeds won their first European trophy.
Leeds won the League Championship for the first time in 1969, finishing six points ahead of Liverpool and losing only twice. Hunter played in all 42 league matches. In 1970–71, Leeds won the Fairs Cup again, defeating Juventus on the away goals rule in the two-leg final. The aggregate score was 3–3 after the teams drew 2–2 in Turin and 1–1 at Elland Road. Hunter and Jack Charlton were outstanding for Leeds in the first leg, in which they had to contain Helmut Haller, Roberto Bettega, Franco Causio, and Pietro Anastasi, who at the time was the world's most expensive footballer. In his report of the Elland Road match, Phil Brown of the "Yorkshire Evening Post" wrote:
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;It took a tremendous effort for United to maintain this double effort. Even Norman Hunter was looking weary and that above all else shows the amount of strain United have been through because if there is an iron man in British football today it is Norman Hunter.
Before the 1972 FA Cup final at Wembley, some Leeds fans displayed a banner reading 'Norman Bites Yer Legs' and, after ITV had screened it several times, Hunter was thereafter nicknamed "Bites Yer Legs". He eventually met the fans who created the banner and "had a laugh about it". He remarked that there had been jokes about the banner ever since, such as his wife saying: "Norman's come home today with a damaged leg"; and the response: "Oh, yes, who does it belong to?"
In Hunter's autobiography, he remarked on the disappointment of having been on the losing side in an FA Cup final and was determined that Leeds would win the 1972 final, commenting that he was "really wound up for it". They defeated Arsenal 1–0 with a goal by Allan Clarke and there is a photograph of Hunter leaping into the air to celebrate the goal being scored. At the end of the game, Hunter climbed the steps to the Royal box twice; once to collect his own medal, and then again to help Mick Jones negotiate his way up and down, as Jones had been receiving treatment for a dislocated elbow while his teammates had been getting their prizes.
In May 1973, Hunter was on the losing team in two finals. In the FA Cup final at Wembley, Leeds surprisingly lost 1–0 to Sunderland, who were then in the Second Division. A few days later, Leeds were defeated 1–0 by AC Milan in the European Cup Winners' Cup final at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki. Hunter was sent off for retaliation and the game was over-shadowed by rumours of match-fixing.
1973 to 1976.
In the 1973–74 season, Leeds were unbeaten in their first 29 matches, an achievement that enabled them to hold off a strong Liverpool challenge and win the League Championship, giving Hunter his second League winners medal. On 20 October, having played his 600th match for Leeds, he was presented with a silver salver before the home match against Liverpool. Both teams formed a guard of honour. Hunter then produced a performance described as "quite splendid" to help Leeds defeat their closest rivals 1–0, the goal scored by Mick Jones. At the end of the season, Hunter was the first winner of the PFA Players' Player of the Year award.
As champions, Leeds entered the European Cup the following season, and Hunter was a member of the team that reached the 1975 European Cup final but lost 2–0 to Bayern Munich.
Towards