Remember This? Fight of the Century between Norman Hunter and Francis Lee 1 November 1975
Smarting from losing the 1975 European Cup final, the following season was a fractious and uneven campaign with some of United's older hands starting to show the ravages of time. One of them, Norman Hunter was involved in a a disgraceful onfield clash with Derby striker Francis Lee at the beginning of November.
Former England international Lee, had left Manchester City
to join Derby in a £110,000 deal a year earlier, had a reputation for diving in
the area to win penalties. In the first half, Lee had conned referee Derek
Nippard into awarding the Rams a spot kick after throwing himself to the turf
after a challenge from Hunter.
Bites Yer Legs had been seething with indignation ever since
– he was often guilty of some brutal tackling but was the embodiment of ‘firm
but fair’ and detested what he saw as blatant cheating. The pair had continued
to niggle away at each other for the rest of the game and seven minutes into
the second half, following a shot by Lee, Hunter clattered into him in no holds
barred style. The challenge was late to say the least. Lee retaliated which was
probably exactly what Hunter was hoping for, giving him the excuse to punch Lee,
splitting his lip so badly that he could poke his tongue through the gash.
Lee was equally furious by now and intent on retaliation,
though Charlie George, David Harvey and Trevor Cherry kept the two men apart,
while Billy Bremner intervened to prevent Kevin Hector getting at Hunter.
Both men were sent from the field, but as they trooped off tempers
flared again and Lee laid into Hunter, who seemed intent on only keeping the
tubby little forward at arm’s length as he comically swung at his opponent. It
was all laughable handbags really but BBC commentator John Motson lapped it up
for the TV audience. ‘A fight’s going on off the ball between Hunter and Lee. Fists
were flying and that’s been brewing for some time ... I’m wondering if he’s
sent them off, because they’re wandering away to the far side. And it looks to
me as if it’s broken out again! It’s broken out again, and this time, a
complete free-for-all. And I’m sure they must have been sent off this time. And
the referee’s trying to sort it all out. If they weren’t sent off the first
time, they certainly were the second.’
Derby physio Gordon Guthrie ushered Lee to the dressing room
but the conflict was not yet done.Derby skipper Roy McFarland, who was not
playing that day, recalls, ‘I was dispatched to act as peacemaker by manager
Dave Mackay. Cheers, Dave. It was like putting my life on the line, getting
between the pair of them in the tunnel, such were the threats flying back and forth.
‘Franny was absolutely raging, as he tried to wriggle free
of Gordon’s grip and shouted over my shoulder what he was going to do to
Norman. Norman, being Norman, gave him a cold stare back and snarled, “I’m
looking forward to it.”
‘Finally, Gordon and I managed to grapple Franny into the
treatment room, where our club doctor George Cochrane was waiting, with needle
and thread, to repair the damage to his fat lip. Fat chance, doc. The red mist
had well and truly descended, and Franny was almost out of control.
‘There was a demented look in his eye that sent a shudder through me. Seething with anger, he was breathing heavily and irregularly, like a man possessed, and I just thought to myself: “We’re going to have our work cut out here.”
‘Sure enough, despite our best efforts to calm him with a
few soothing words of sympathy, he suddenly leapt off the table, hurled Guthrie
against a wall and sent Dr Cochrane flying.
‘Fortunately, I was guarding the door, but I still needed my
wits about me to stop him getting past. The consequences of Franny escaping
that room and finding Hunter didn’t bear thinking about, so I resolved to stand
firm.
‘Eyes still blazing, he fixed me with a look and yelled: “Get
out of my way, Roy — I’m going to kill that b****** Hunter.” I returned the
look and replied, “You’re going to have to knock me spark out first, Franny,
because I’m not shifting.”
‘That brief exchange was just enough for Gordon to pick
himself up and wrap our wild-eyed striker in another bear-hug. This time, there
was no resistance. The fire had burnt itself out, and Franny’s breathing
gradually returned to normal.
‘So, too, did Dr Cochrane’s pulse. Clearly shaken by such an
eruption of violence, he pulled himself together, took a deep breath and said, “Francis,
I have to stitch that lip.”
‘The doc’s handiwork didn’t deter Franny from venturing into
the players’ lounge afterwards, with me designated as his minder for the
evening. When Norman wandered in, Franny tensed visibly and growled, “Roy, go
and tell Hunter to get out of my sight, or I’ll come over and sort him out.”
‘As inconspicuously as possible, and in terms that could not
have been chosen more carefully, I sidled up to the Leeds hard man and warned
him that Franny was still on the warpath.
‘It came as no surprise whatsoever that 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.”
‘Another 10 minutes — every one of them resembling an
eternity — and the Leeds players filed out for the journey home. I could breathe
again, order myself a drink and reflect on how, in between hostilities, we had
beaten the mighty Leeds 3-2.’
The pair were hauled over the coals by a disciplinary panel
with Lee banned for four matches and fined £250. Hunter got away scot free.
