Hunter revelled in his status as a colossus among the hard men
Nicknamed ‘Bites Yer Legs’, the Leeds United legend, who has died at 76, was a formidable competitor crucial to the highly successful Revie era, writes Sam Wallace
In an era of great English footballers and great England football teams, Norman Hunter played alongside the best, and although it was only a bit-part role for his country, there is no question that for Leeds United he was a colossus in their glory years. This was a time when hard men revelled in their reputations and Hunter, who died yesterday aged 76 after contracting coronavirus, was no different. His role in that infamous 1975 on-field punch-up with Francis Lee is part of his legacy, but he also played in a hugely successful Leeds team of which he was a crucial part. A product of the club’s youth scheme, originally from Co Durham, he was a regular for 13 seasons in the centre of the Leeds defence, going from the old Second Division to winning league championships and appearing in a European Cup final.
He was an archetype of the era, a ferocious centre-back who mixed intimidation with bravery, commitment and a total dedication to the art of defending. But he was appreciated by his fellow professionals and voted the first-ever Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year in 1974. He was there for some of the epochs of the era, including the 1966 World Cup finals and England’s failed defence in Mexico in 1970. He played through Don Revie’s reign at Elland Road, the 44 days of Brian Clough in 1974 and then the defeat in Paris by Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in 1975.
His management career did not hit the heights that one might have expected, given some of the great names he had played under, although that was largely the case for all Revie’s Leeds players, many of whom won six major trophies as well as the 1964 Second Division title.
Hunter was given the nickname “Bites Yer Legs”, which began with a banner at the 1972 FA Cup final and entered popular culture when repeated by Clough on television.
In an interview with Yorkshire TV in 2015, Hunter said: “Defending and the game then was slightly different – the physical side and the tackling side. You never got booked for your first tackle. It was always free, so you went in that little bit harder. I am not saying it was right. Nowadays you wouldn’t get away with it.
“But I could play as well, because of the players I played with – Johnny Giles, Billy Bremner, Bobby Collins. I enjoyed coming out and playing, but the gaffer told me, ‘Your job is to win the ball and give it to those who can play.’”
He joined Leeds aged 15 having already left school to become an electrical fitter, and was given his debut by Revie, a manager who inspired devotion in his players. Hunter played alongside fellow Geordie Jack Charlton in the centre of defence for around 10 years, although he was always behind the older Charlton brother when it came to England teams.
After Leeds’s promotion as champions of the Second Division, the league championship was won five years later in 1969 and again in 1974. The club won the 1968 League Cup, the 1972 FA Cup, and the Uefa Fairs Cup in 1968 and 1971. Between promotion in 1964 and the second of their First Division titles 10 years later, there were five runners-up places and Leeds never finished outside the top four. They reached the European Cup-winners’ Cup final in 1973, where they lost to AC Milan, and were beaten in the European Cup final two seasons later.
They were on the wane by November 1975, when Hunter and Lee landed blows on one another during a game at Derby’s Baseball Ground, a fight that stands as a benchmark for the free-for-all football culture of the era. Hunter had already split Lee’s lip and both had been dismissed when hostilities resumed as they left the pitch. “A fight’s going on off the ball!” exclaimed John Motson in the Match of the Day commentary as he caught sight of round two.
In the second part, Lee swung and connected with the taller Hunter, who stumbled, but got back to his feet before finally the two were parted. Both men were knocked down by the other but, as was typical of the era they were playing in, both were eager to demonstrate they had not been hurt. The priority then was to retaliate rather than appeal to the referee.
In his autobiography years later, Lee’s Derby team-mate Roy Mcfarland recalled the efforts of himself and two staff to keep Lee from storming into the away dressing room afterwards to attack Hunter again. When Hunter and his team-mates arrived postmatch in the Baseball Ground’s players’ bar – a move interpreted as provocative – Hunter was warned by Mcfarland he should leave. Mcfarland wrote: “The reply was a sneering, ‘We’re only stopping for a quick one, but make sure Lee gets the message – he doesn’t frighten me.’”
Hunter played on for six years after leaving Leeds in 1976, at Bristol City and then Barnsley. As a manager at Oakwell he had moderate success and was in charge for four years. There were further spells as a manager at Rotherham United and Bradford City.
Hunter won 28 caps for England between 1965 and 1974 and was a member of Sir Alf Ramsey’s World Cup squads in 1966 and 1970, although he did not play a game in 1966. Along with all the non-playing members of the squad in an era when there were no substitutes, he was told by Ramsey to be on the touchline at full time of the final. Hunter was stuck in a Wembley Stadium lift with Jimmy Armfield when West Germany equalised before the end of 90 minutes. Non-playing members did not get a winners’ medal until 2009.
Hunter played one game at a World Cup finals, the defeat by West Germany in 1970, as a late substitute. He played in the 1968 European Championship in which England finished third, and was part of the side who failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup finals. He started the fateful final qualifier against Poland at Wembley in October 1973 in which a 1-1 draw was not enough to take England to the World Cup finals.
His last cap was the following year against Czechoslovakia, which was also Revie’s first game in charge of the national team.
Hunter never bore any grudge for being an understudy to Charlton and Bobby Moore, and had the greatest respect for Ramsey, although in that television interview he did wonder wistfully what it would have meant to be part of the golden XI who lifted the Jules Rimet trophy. “The only disappointment is you are part of the squad, but you never played,” he said. “Those lads who actually did must have felt awesome.”
‘You never liked playing him as he let you know he was around. But he was more than just tough’
Peter Shilton
Former England goalkeeper
‘A lot of great players have walked into Elland Road and Norman was right up there with the best’
Eddie Gray
Former Leeds team-mate
‘An amazing person with a massive heart. Rest in peace Norman. We will do you proud’
Liam Cooper Leeds captain ‘I will work hard to have your culture in our club, fighters on the pitch and gentlemen outside’
Andrea Radrizzani Leeds owner