[Football] RIP Norman Hunter

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Sorry but today's players would rip all the so called hard men of the 70s to pieces football wise.

Said hard men have no place in today's game.

Spot on. And not just football wise. Just look at the physiques:



It all seemed jolly fun at the time but I would no more swap today's elegant game, comfy stadia, and better behaved 'fans' for a slice of the 70s than I'd swap my nice diet and daily shower for Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie, and a bath once a week (whether I need it or not).

 

[Thunder Bolt]

enough of them. been our centenary season so they have been back together recently.

dave harvey, terry cooper, paul reaney, sniffer clarke, pete lorimer
and of course johnny giles and eddie gray who will be devastated today.

I remember going to Elland Road frequently with my ex husband (who was Leeds through & through) especially when I got complimentary tickets working for the electricity board.
Norman was a rough player but he was also very skilled.
RIP Bite yer legs.


Ps I was always Brighton through and through, but appreciated what Revie did with that team.

 

[melias shoes]

Sorry but today's players would rip all the so called hard men of the 70s to pieces football wise.

Said hard men have no place in today's game.

Yes I absolutely agree. I wasn't saying it was better then. Far from it.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

I have on numerous occasions. Here we go again....

When I was eleven, in 1969, every boy in my class 'followed' a first division side, even though we went to the Goldstone. We all carried our homework in little club sports bags bought from Woolworth. This coincided with most of us being allowed to watch MOTD for the first time (a massive step up from Southern Soccer and The Big Match). The first division was evidently 'proper' football. My dad too me and my middle brother to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea Leeds in front of a 63,000 crowd around 1970. My middle brother is still primarily a Chelsea supporter. My youngest brother, caught up in all this as a 7 year old is still a Dirty fan

I never saw Brighton on TV till that famous third division game against Villa (which started an episode of MOTD!) where Willy Irvine scored. Brighton were small and the very idea of us competing with the big boys seemed absurd then. Dawson, Irvine, Beamish.....no. So we all followed a first division side. It wasn't till Bamber transformed the club's ambitions from 72 to 74 that I realised I cared more about The Albion than Leeds, so you could call me a glory-hunting jcl

Same for me.
I, 1st went to the Goldstone in 1964 when we were in the 4th division and have followed Albion ever since
Like your school, everyone at my school followed a 1st division club and Leeds were the underdog in 1965 cup final v Liverpool, and so I wanted them to win.
They didnt win but they became my 2nd club, never my main team, that has been and always will be The Albion.
In the late 60's and early 70's under Revie, they went on to become one of the top clubs and more fashionable, although they picked up the nickname of Dirty Leeds
because of the tactics Revie employed and they were soon dispised by everyone but Leeds fans,.

Love them or hate them, they had a team of internationals and some great players.

 

[melias shoes]

I have on numerous occasions. Here we go again....

When I was eleven, in 1969, every boy in my class 'followed' a first division side, even though we went to the Goldstone. We all carried our homework in little club sports bags bought from Woolworth. This coincided with most of us being allowed to watch MOTD for the first time (a massive step up from Southern Soccer and The Big Match). The first division was evidently 'proper' football. My dad too me and my middle brother to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea Leeds in front of a 63,000 crowd around 1970. My middle brother is still primarily a Chelsea supporter. My youngest brother, caught up in all this as a 7 year old is still a Dirty fan

I never saw Brighton on TV till that famous third division game against Villa (which started an episode of MOTD!) where Willy Irvine scored. Brighton were small and the very idea of us competing with the big boys seemed absurd then. Dawson, Irvine, Beamish.....no. So we all followed a first division side. It wasn't till Bamber transformed the club's ambitions from 72 to 74 that I realised I cared more about The Albion than Leeds, so you could call me a glory-hunting jcl

Sorry H I didn't realise you had explained before. Fair comment well put.

 

[Icy Gull]

Pretty sure that he was part of the Leeds punditry team as I seem to remember seeing him at the Amex last time we played Leeds

RIP “bites your legs”

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Sorry H I didn't realise you had explained before. Fair comment well put.

No worries - why would you? It was a sort of apology to those who have seen my explanation (and hopefully pre-empting the 'there you are, going on about your schooldays and Leeds again, you silly old poof' sort of comments I get from certain posters based in Withdean and Ruislip )

 

[Gwylan]

Sorry but today's players would rip all the so called hard men of the 70s to pieces football wise.

Depends if they were playing under 70s conditions or the modern ones.

I'm not sure how many of the modern players would tolerate having lumps kicked out of them every time they got the ball.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Last Leg Bitten...

Wonder how many of that Team are still alive?

I believe the survivors are Reaney, Cooper, Charlton, Lorimer, Clarke, Jones, Yorath, Giles and Gray of the best-known line-up, and McQueen, Cherry and Jordan of the 1974 champions. Jack Charlton is reportedly suffering from Alzheimer's. Madeley, Sprake and Bremner are dead, as is Don Revie.

Peter Lorimer used to be the front man for the old players. If you wanted to speak to any of them, you called him at the pub he ran and he'd pass your request on. I once asked to speak to Norman Hunter for a special 'hard men' issue of a magazine I was working for. I said to Lorimer that I was worried Hunter might say no because he didn't want to be thought of as a dirty player any more, but PL said no, Norman certainly wouldn't want to be left out of an issue like that!

Hunter was as good as gold, and was very forthright about his playing style. He said that if he had been playing then (mid 1990s) he would have had to change his game or he would have been suspended every week and above all he wanted to play. He also said that in his day when only three or four games were televised every weekend, you could get away with much more because if he kicked someone and the referee didn't spot it and it wasn't on Match Of The Day then there was no footage for the FA to review.

 

[jakarta]

I believe the survivors are Reaney, Cooper, Charlton, Lorimer, Clarke, Jones, Yorath, Giles and Gray of the best-known line-up, and McQueen, Cherry and Jordan of the 1974 champions. Jack Charlton is reportedly suffering from Alzheimer's. Madeley, Sprake and Bremner are dead, as is Don Revie.

Peter Lorimer used to be the front man for the old players. If you wanted to speak to any of them, you called him at the pub he ran and he'd pass your request on. I once asked to speak to Norman Hunter for a special 'hard men' issue of a magazine I was working for. I said to Lorimer that I was worried Hunter might say no because he didn't want to be thought of as a dirty player any more, but PL said no, Norman certainly wouldn't want to be left out of an issue like that!

Hunter was as good as gold, and was very forthright about his playing style. He said that if he had been playing then (mid 1990s) he would have had to change his game or he would have been suspended every week and above all he wanted to play. He also said that in his day when only three or four games were televised every weekend, you could get away with much more because if he kicked someone and the referee didn't spot it and it wasn't on Match Of The Day then there was no footage for the FA to review.

Actually knew Gordon McQueen (in passing) as he lived on the same Posh Housing Development (Delamere Park) with Country Club in Cheshire back in the late 1970's. Had moved from Dirty to Manchester United by then, he was thick as Mince from memory.

Unlike the other Manchester United player who lived on the same development and who utterly thrashed me at Squash while he was still rehabbing an injury.

I was a cocky 17 year old who thought he was fit because he played a bit of Rugby.

Spent the whole game getting smashed into the walls by a certain Steven Coppell.

He was an absolute Gent BTW and certainly not thick as mince!.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Unfortunately, the only time I saw him play live was when he replaced Bobby Moore against Poland in 1973. Shame, because he was better than that. Go bite some legs up there Norman. RIP

 

[Perfidious Albion]

A real character who was part of the most successful team of his day. He also played a big role in the England National team.
Of course he would never get away today with what he did then, but the game has changed a lot in the 40 or 50 years since then.
Rip Norman........

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Spot on. And not just football wise. Just look at the physiques:

View attachment 122367View attachment 122368

It all seemed jolly fun at the time but I would no more swap today's elegant game, comfy stadia, and better behaved 'fans' for a slice of the 70s than I'd swap my nice diet and daily shower for Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie, and a bath once a week (whether I need it or not).

But imagine what those players would have been like with modern diets and fitness regimes.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I have on numerous occasions. Here we go again....

When I was eleven, in 1969, every boy in my class 'followed' a first division side, even though we went to the Goldstone. We all carried our homework in little club sports bags bought from Woolworth. This coincided with most of us being allowed to watch MOTD for the first time (a massive step up from Southern Soccer and The Big Match). The first division was evidently 'proper' football. My dad too me and my middle brother to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea Leeds in front of a 63,000 crowd around 1970. My middle brother is still primarily a Chelsea supporter. My youngest brother, caught up in all this as a 7 year old is still a Dirty fan

I never saw Brighton on TV till that famous third division game against Villa (which started an episode of MOTD!) where Willy Irvine scored. Brighton were small and the very idea of us competing with the big boys seemed absurd then. Dawson, Irvine, Beamish.....no. So we all followed a first division side. It wasn't till Bamber transformed the club's ambitions from 72 to 74 that I realised I cared more about The Albion than Leeds, so you could call me a glory-hunting jcl [emoji38]ol:

This

Chelsea

I am ashamed.

 

[Icy Gull]

This

Chelsea

I am ashamed.

Worse, given their recent behaviour, Spurs

 

[Robinjakarta]

I have on numerous occasions. Here we go again....

When I was eleven, in 1969, every boy in my class 'followed' a first division side, even though we went to the Goldstone. We all carried our homework in little club sports bags bought from Woolworth. This coincided with most of us being allowed to watch MOTD for the first time (a massive step up from Southern Soccer and The Big Match). The first division was evidently 'proper' football. My dad too me and my middle brother to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea Leeds in front of a 63,000 crowd around 1970. My middle brother is still primarily a Chelsea supporter. My youngest brother, caught up in all this as a 7 year old is still a Dirty fan

I never saw Brighton on TV till that famous third division game against Villa (which started an episode of MOTD!) where Willy Irvine scored. Brighton were small and the very idea of us competing with the big boys seemed absurd then. Dawson, Irvine, Beamish.....no. So we all followed a first division side. It wasn't till Bamber transformed the club's ambitions from 72 to 74 that I realised I cared more about The Albion than Leeds, so you could call me a glory-hunting jcl

I followed a very similar path. My team was Tottenham and basking in the glory of the 60/61 league and cup double winning team, but they never really reached those heights again with great players being replaced by lesser ones. Still, while it lasted we had Jimmy Greaves, Alan Gilzean, Cliff Jones, ALAN MULLERY, Dave Mackay, Mike England (fouled a lot but dominating centre half), Pat Jennings and more. Great to watch! As the team and my teenage hero worshipping declined, I started to turn towards the Albion around 1964 and Bobby Smith et al and have never looked back. That Albion side with Smith was a damned good one to watch, too and is still one of my favourites - can still I think name every player!

 

[papajaff]

It all seemed jolly fun at the time but I would no more swap today's elegant game, comfy stadia, and better behaved 'fans' for a slice of the 70s than I'd swap my nice diet and daily shower for Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie, and a bath once a week (whether I need it or not).

I couldn't agree more Harry. Anyone who watched footie through the 70s basically lived a very dangerous life. Yes it seemed like fun as you say but I look back with horror and a thorough shake of the head.

 

[Saladpack Seagull]

RIP Norman. Football was a different game when he was at his peak, and in some respects more enjoyable. Like him or loathe him, he will be a great loss to loved ones and friends, another tragic loss to this bloody virus. Thanks for the memories.

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

I followed a very similar path. My team was Tottenham and basking in the glory of the 60/61 league and cup double winning team, but they never really reached those heights again with great players being replaced by lesser ones. Still, while it lasted we had Jimmy Greaves, Alan Gilzean, Cliff Jones, ALAN MULLERY, Dave Mackay, Mike England (fouled a lot but dominating centre half), Pat Jennings and more. Great to watch! As the team and my teenage hero worshipping declined, I started to turn towards the Albion around 1964 and Bobby Smith et al and have never looked back. That Albion side with Smith was a damned good one to watch, too and is still one of my favourites - can still I think name every player!

Pretty much exactly this for me too. I think what happens is that when a player of the vintage of Norman Hunter dies, it sort of triggers a nostalgic reflex for those of us of, er, a certain age.

 

[AnotherArch]

One of my favourite players, back when I followed Dirty.

RIP

Edit, that Franny Lee incident was a disgrace, though. Like the Giles and Keegan incident, it looked like it started with a coward's punch (delivered with no preamble when the victim wasn't even looking).

But at least in those days pride drove them to have a stand-up fight and take a punch, unlike today's players when the slightest touch of the hand causes them to immediately collapse as though they have been shot.