Legends - Barnsley’s Mick McCarthy on his hero Leeds United’s Norman Hunter

For Mick McCarthy, that proved emphatically not to be the case.

Norman Hunter – that great defensive lynchpin of that once-in-a-lifetime Leeds United team whom he adored from just down the M1 at his Barnsley home – was everything he imagined and a bit more besides when he met him in the flesh and struck up a relationship after he arrived at Oakwell in 1979.

Talented, a leader and a winner; ferociously competitive, but also warm.

Hunter’s sad recent passing evoked those memories from the former Republic of Ireland manager and Barnsley legend when speaking to The Yorkshire Post. McCarthy’s words were heartfelt and admiring and full of gratitude at rubbing shoulders with one of the game’s true icons.

On his early memories of Hunter, growing up as a Leeds fan, McCarthy said: “He was one of my heroes of that great team of (Paul) Reaney, (Terry) Cooper, Norman and Jack (Charlton).

“The team was brilliant and I was a really avid fan of Leeds at the time. We were living in Barnsley, but they were my team and I loved them.

“Don’t forget, we didn’t see football then like we are seeing it now – from breakfast time to lunch and supper time. Whatever bits we would get, we’d watch on TV.

“My old man worked until 12 on a Saturday and I was never going to Elland Road. I only went to Elland Road when I got the chance and when I was a young pro and got a car. So I used to go then and watch them.

“Norman being a centre-half always inspired me. We brought Norman from Bristol City, so to be playing with him was just amazing. Training with him every day was amazing. He was a fabulous footballer.”

The class that Hunter’s peers always recognised – he was the inaugural PFA Footballer of the Year in 1974, no less – was instantly recognisable when he arrived at Barnsley at the end of his playing days. His legs may have not been quite as nimble as they once were, but his defensive brain was as sharp as ever.

For an emerging centre-half in McCarthy, playing alongside him represented the ultimate finishing school.

He continued: “Whatever country, level and time Norman was playing in, he’d have been a top, top player and he trained like that every day.

“He would get the ball down in training and he’d go mad if you just launched it. He always wanted to play out from the back and was a fabulous passer of the ball – short or long. He was great.

“You just learned things from training with him. Strangely enough, you learn more when you are watching them training than you do when you are playing.

“You pick up bits and pieces and I always remember something really simple playing with him at Derby’s training ground in a friendly game.

“I remember a ball coming in and he was struggling to get it. It was a cross from the left and he just flicked it on and it went out for a throw-in over the other side and I thought: ‘you cute sod.’

“Most of us would probably try and head it out and you wouldn’t get good purchase and it would probably stay in and you’d be under pressure or head it out for a corner and give them a chance. He just flicked it on and meant it.

“He had this wonderful way; he’d be backing off and always seemed to have his left foot forward and was brilliant – he’d just strike out like a scorpion. He’d nick it and be away with the ball. He trained exactly the same when he tackled in training.

“I am sure we made our debut at Lincoln and it was against Mick Harford and Tony Cunningham and they smashed us to pieces!

“But we held retribution on the Tuesday night as they used to play in the League Cup on Saturday and then Tuesday. We beat Lincoln then.”

Hunter, of course, would go on to manage McCarthy, taking over at Oakwell when Allan Clarke headed back to Leeds in September, 1980. It was a season which would end in promotion to the second tier for Barnsley.

It is his qualities as a human being and cultivating a family feel and togetherness at Barnsley which McCarthy remembers just as fondly as those glory days.

He added: “When I heard he was coming and that I would be playing with Norman Hunter...Just to be on the same pitch as him was an honour.

“But he was such a lovely guy as well. A really good, spirited bloke and he came and gave you time and would always talk to you and help.

“Norman was great and a big influence on my career. He gave me a lot of support and encouragement. If he said: ‘Well done’, I felt 10 feet tall.

“I cannot honestly remember him being venomous. We all get angry, but I cannot remember him being one who would say inappropriate things. Some do.

“Norman wasn’t like that – he’d make his point, but I don’t remember him being a shouter and a screamer. He didn’t have to do. He’d sort things out. You can be angry, but still calm.

“He was a real warm person and we got to know his wife Sue as well. She’d come to games and it was a good relationship. He had a good relationship with the club, the players and the staff.

“Norman was a great guy and player and a hero of mine. They say don’t meet your heroes. But I met a couple of mine and he was one of them and he was fabulous. I loved the bones of him.”

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