Nicknamed ‘Norman bites yer legs’, the Leeds strongman won 28 England caps but had his biggest successes at Elland RoadNorman Hunter had to wait 41 years for his World Cup winners’ medal – as a non-playing member of England’s 1966 squad he was not deemed entitled to one until the rules were eventually revised – yet the Leeds United centre-half’s no-nonsense playing style is as fondly remembered today as any other from the era when televised football turned local heroes into household names.Partly that is to do with the wonderfully apposite nickname that followed him around after the 1972 FA Cup final against Arsenal, when a banner in the Leeds end declaring “Norman bites yer legs” was spotted and commented...
The manager’s entire career feels a rebuke to the idea that life is measured by trophies and his methods have ignited a regionA t teatime last Sunday came perhaps the broadcasting highlight of the festive period, a moment both dramatic and farcical that was soundtracked by a high‑pitched Ayrshire voice shouting the phrases “Big Wes!” and “His own net!” in various combinations, the delirious syntax conveying the sense of the moment far more eloquently than a finely turned sentence could ever have done. As Alan McInally screamed himself hoarse, Leeds fans went berserk, players celebrated and coaches cavorted, Marcelo Bielsa took a walk across his technical area in his big padded coat, seemingly no more moved by the injury-time own...
Minamino’s Merseyside derby baptism, Woodgate’s Tottenham reunion and non-league Fylde take on Sheffield UnitedConsidering they have been fairly regular visitors over the years, Derby’s record at Selhurst Park is pretty miserable. Indeed in their past 15 trips – a run stretching back to 1983 – they’ve won only once. That victory came in 2002 when Georgi Kinkladze scored the only goal of the game. A big-name big-money player past his peak helping the Rams to an unlikely win in south London? You might be able to spot where this is going. Wayne Rooney made his playing return to English football on Thursday night and played a full 90 minutes in the 2-1 defeat of Barnsley in which his free-kick supplied...
The top two are threatening to run away with automatic promotion but the race for the play-offs remains competitiveThreatening to runaway with things are West Brom and Leeds. This time last season nine points separated the top six but Slaven Bilic’s free-scoring Albion – only Manchester City have more league goals across England’s top five tiers – have established considerably more breathing space at the summit. Bilic has made his first taste of managing in the so-called madhouse look easy, so much so that his side have soared to the 50-point mark without appearing to work up too much of a sweat, and the sense is there is plenty of oomph to come. Related: Sheffield Wednesday’s late penalty has Bristol...
Despite a small squad and a handful of new recruits Leeds’s performance at Bristol City put down a markerLeeds’s season is 90 minutes old but they could not have made a more convincing start than a 3-1 win at Bristol City. The caveat is that blazing starts are nothing new under Marcelo Bielsa and he acknowledged that this is ground zero in terms of achieving the Premier League return he stuck around to realise. The wry smile and sheepish chuckle that greeted a question asking if his team’s suffocating performance in platinum and pink surpassed his expectations said as much. “I know perfectly well that this is a long season and all of the things that happen at the start...