Norman Hunter (footballer)

Norman Hunter (29 October 1943 – 17 April 2020) was an English international footballer who played for Leeds United, Bristol City, Barnsley and England.

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.

Norman Hunter was born on 29 October 1943 at Eighton Banks, Gateshead, then in 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.

Fortunately, 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.

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 1957, and were relegated after the 1959–60 season.

Lambton had signed Don Revie from Sunderland in November 1958 and Billy Bremner, a Scottish schoolboy international, soon afterwards.

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.

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.

Other graduates included 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 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 u-23s and two for the Football League XI.

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.

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 after 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.