I’d just love to take on Diego Costa
Leeds icon Norman ‘Bites Yer Legs’ Hunter mourns the lost art of bullying strikers…
THE last time Leeds United travelled to Sutton United’s Gander Green Lane it was 1970 and Don Revie’s side were champions of English football.
‘ I remember,’ says Norman Hunter, the former Leeds defender who made 726 appearances for the Yorkshire club. ‘ They were in the seventh tier — we dared not lose.’
Leeds won 6-0 and Hunter recalls: ‘They put in special seats for a big crowd. Don scouted Sutton three times. We trained on pitches at East End Park in Leeds to prepare for the conditions.
‘ We ended up signing their defender, John Faulkner — a good player but he got an horrendous injury in his second game for us. We called him Max, like the golfer. We all had nicknames.’
Norman’s was ‘Bites Yer Legs’ Hunter. Under Revie, Leeds were promoted to the top flight, won two League titles, the FA Cup and finished in the top four for 10 consecutive seasons.
Hunter, now 73, was a titan of a defender in an era when defenders lived up to their job title. He bullied opponents alongside Jack Charlton. With goalkeeper Gary Sprake, they formed a Bermuda Triangle where strikers just disappeared.
‘Jack was the boss, the guv’nor, never wrong. There was only one way to London and that was Jack Charlton’s way. When his mind was on it, there was nobody better.
‘I lost it with him for the first time at West Ham. Clyde Best was up front for them, a big strong lad. He scored and Jack told me off. I had a go back. He never held a grudge against me.’
Did Hunter hold grudges? ‘No ... well ... it depends what they did to me. I’d remember. I’d wait and get them back. I’d think, “You’re not doing that to me again”. I’d love to take on Diego Costa these days, a proper competitor.
‘I’m not sure I’d be fast enough to play in this era. I could play the one sat in front of the defence with my eyes shut! But defenders are more exposed now. You can’t really tackle. In our day you had to nearly commit murder to get sent off.
‘There are things I regret. The punch-up with Francis Lee at Derby. Franny is a smashing lad. I had tussles with Chelsea’s Peter Osgood. In one game, they scored and he said something to me, so when we scored I ran over to him and pulled his sideburns and cheeks. You end up with no mates out on the field playing football!
‘Outside Yorkshire, I have three things I’m remembered for — the punch-up with Lee, my nickname and messing up that goal against Poland when England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup. That’s all I’m remembered for!’
Hunter smiles wryly. He remains English football royalty, part of the 1966 World Cup-winning squad but an understudy to Charlton and Bobby Moore in defence.
‘I’d have crawled on hands and knees to play for England. It baffles me when people stop playing for England. I’d go for nothing. I defied Don Revie when he said, “Don’t go, have a rest”, and I said, “No, I’m going, I want to play for England”.’
Hunter received his World Cup medal retrospectively in 2009 but has since auctioned off some of his memorabilia.
‘It doesn’t mean much to me to stare at medals and trophies,’ he explains. ‘They are up here in my head. I sold them for my family and grandkids.
‘I’ve got the World Cup one but it wouldn’t bother me if I didn’t have it again. How do you share a medal among your grandkids? A few of the guys have sold World Cup medals — a different era, financially.’
Hunter smiles again, wryly. He was respected by his peers, winning the first PFA Player of the Year award in 1974 — the year after the Poland mistake. Only four other defenders — Colin Todd, Gary Pallister, Paul McGrath and John Terry — have claimed the prize since. ‘The best teams defend,’ Hunter insists.
‘ Garry Monk has the Leeds defence sorted, six home clean sheets in a row. Chelsea defend and that’s why they win. But everyone wants to do a Barcelona. People
In our day you had to nearly commit murder to get sent off!
say defending’s easy. It’s not. It’s about concentrating for the whole 90 minutes. That’s me stopping you scoring a goal, whichever way you have to do it.
‘John Stones is quick, strong, getting better in the air — but he tries to play out of every situation. You can’t do it. You have to bash it up sometimes. The people you are playing against aren’t daft. They are quick and will get after you.’
‘Revie used to say to me, “Win the ball and give it to the ones who can play”. That used to make me angry. I could play! But he made you feel a million dollars. He would be on his haunches after every game, take our boots and socks off for us and say well played.
‘People say we were dirty and he taught us to tackle badly. It’s wrong. Our training was five-a-side football. We just loved winning.’
Hunter sees signs of the old spirit returning to Leeds at last, with the club third in the Championship.
‘There have been bad, bad times but there’s a bubbling expectation. Garry is doing brilliant. Our fans are amazing. They turn up, 30,000 some weeks. Away from home, more than anyone. We’ll be back.’