Great player, great scorer and great lad
A real Hotshot among a team of hard cases Tributes as Leeds legend Lorimer dies at 74
ENGLISH football in the 1970s was like a foreign country – ugly, war-torn, possibly a chunk of the former Soviet Union. Emblematic of the era was its most successful club, Leeds United.
In one of my books I described them as The Nazis In Umbro.
This was wrong of me. Their strip was actually made by Admiral.
They were, however, ruthless, amoral and brutally effective. I should know. I was a teenage Leeds United fan.
My tribal affiliation was, then and now, to my hometown team Wigan Athletic. But as they were then Northern Premier League, in the world of the playground I needed a “proper team”. Mine were Don Revie’s Leeds.
While skilful, most of them also had a nasty streak as long as the stud tracks they left on their opponents’ shins.
There was one though that I could hold up as an example of footballing excellence with a reputation as unsullied as his white shirt. Some called him Lash. We called him Hotshot.
The world called him Peter Lorimer. He was a quick attacking midfielder with a shrewd footballing brain. But to council estate kids and commentators alike his fame rested on one attribute above all else: the ferocity of his shot. Lorimer could “put the laces through it” like no one.
Nowadays we have all kinds of technical metrics that could tell you exactly how hard and fast that shot was: mph, trajectory, swerve. Then we had to rely on other yardsticks: the rattle and wobble of the woodwork, the look of fear on defenders in the wall, the volume and duration of Barry Davies’ “OH I SAY”.
If I close my eyes I can still see some of his most celebrated strikes: his flick up and looping volley against Shankly’s Liverpool, his hat-trick in the 7-0 humiliation of Southampton in ’72, three more put past Bob Wilson in the Arsenal goal the season after.
But, Leeds being Leeds, I remember most vividly two goals he didn’t score.
In the 1973 FA Cup Final, when 99 times out of 100 he would have lashed it into a bursting net, his sidefooted six-yarder was turned on to the underside of the bar by Jim Montgomery to the delight of neutrals and the agony of one small boy in Wigan, and bringing forth a typically frenzied outburst from the urbane Brian Moore: “A goal! No! My goodness, I thought Lorimer had got that one.”
Then in 1975, his volley against Bayern Munich in the European Cup Final was disallowed on a very fishy whim, prompting Leeds fans, not known for a sanguine attitude to defeat at the best of times, to run riot in Paris.
I myself probably threw the odd Shandy Bass can around.
We did things differently then, but Hotshot did it better than most.
SAD LOSS Charlton
MISSED Hunter
MOURNED Cherry
FOOTBALL was mourning the loss of another giant of the game yesterday – Peter Lorimer, the player with the bullet shot.
The Leeds United striker died at the age of 74 after a long illness.
The club’s highest scorer wore the number seven shirt in the Don Revie side that once dominated English football.
Lorimer is the fourth club legend to die in the past 12 months, with fans still mourning the loss of Jack Charlton, Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry.
Eddie Gray, Lorimer’s team-mate and best pal, said: “As well as being a great player, goal scorer, he was a great lad.
“He was my room-mate for 12 years, all over Europe, up and down the country. It’s a sad day for me and my team-mates that are still here.
“I used to see him every weekend before lockdown, have a chat, reminisce, still enjoying watching the football club.
“The sad thing for Leeds United, there’ll be a lot of fans crying with the passing of Peter and they can’t go and watch their beloved club either, the club Peter loved so much.”
Proud Scotsman Lorimer scored 238 goals in 705 games during two separate spells at the Elland Road club.
He joined the Yorkshire club after being spotted in his home town Dundee.
SADNESS
He played his first game at just 15 years and 289 days, another club record.
Leeds United FC announced Lorimer’s death “with great sadness”, saying: “Peter’s contribution will never be forgotten and his passing leaves another huge hole in the Leeds United family.
“He will always remain a club icon and his legacy at Elland Road will live on.
“Our thoughts are naturally with Peter’s wife Sue and the rest of his family.”
The news came hours after Leeds’ 2-1 win at Fulham on Friday night.
Club chairman Andrea Radrizzani said on Twitter: “Another Legend left us. It has been an honour to meet you and host you at Elland Road, your home.”
Skipper Liam Cooper posted: “Fly High Peter. A legend we all aspire to be like.”
The Scottish Football Association was “deeply saddened”, while the English Football League hailed Peter Lorimer as a “true legend of the game”.
Lorimer starred in Revie’s team in the late 1960s and 70s, alongside Charlton, Gray, Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles.
His incredible shots timed at 90mphplus earned him the nicknames Hotshot and Lasher – sometimes just Lash.
His trophy haul included two league titles, FA and League Cup wins and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cup medals.
After retiring he worked as a club ambassador and remained a familiar face at games home and away.
karen.rockett@mirror.co.uk