Leeds United’s Norman Hunter was involved in one of the defining incidents in the history of English football on this day in 1975 as he was involved in a fight with Francis Lee of Derby County.
Having qualified for the European Cup final under Jimmy Armfield the previous season, the first signs that the all-conquering era, which started under legendary manager Don Revie, was coming to an end began to show the following season.
Between 1973 and 1975, a long list of Leeds stalwarts including World Cup winning defender Jack Charlton, title-winning goalkeeper Gary Sprake, full-back Terry Cooper and iconic midfielder Johnny Giles all left the club.
As a result, Leeds would only finish fifth in the table that season, an improvement on the ninth-place finish in Armfield’s first season, but some way off the title challenges which were frequent under Revie.
The most notorious moment of the 1975/76 season happened on this day 50 years ago, as Norman Hunter and Francis Lee engaged in a famous fight in a hostile clash between Leeds and Derby.
Remembering the notorious fight between Norman Hunter and Francis Lee
There was bad blood between Leeds and Derby, as the two sides had battled it out for the 1971/72 title, fuelled by Brian Clough’s disastrous spell in charge at Elland Road.
Those ill feelings spilled over at the Baseball Ground on 1st November 1975, as Hunter and Lee became embroiled in two vicious fist fights.
Leeds took the lead through Trevor Cherry, via an assist from Peter Lorimer before Derby drew level through Archie Gemmill. The home side were then awarded a controversial penalty when Hunter was adjudged to have brought down Lee, a decision which was disputed by the Leeds players.
With the score at 2-1 to Derby, tensions spilled over in the 52nd minute, when Hunter caught Lee after he had taken a shot. This led to the first fight between the two men, with Hunter catching Lee with a right hand which left the Derby man with blood streaming from his mouth.
However, the hostilities did not stop when referee Derek Nippard sent both players off. As the two men walked off the field, Lee unleashed a furious volley of punches, before the two men were separated and the game could finally resume.
Derby claimed a 3-2 win and the incident was described as a moment of “soccer shame” by the Football Post who lamented the fact that “players from both sides joined in a disgraceful episode.”
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Leeds United legend admits regret over Francis Lee incident
The notorious incident between Hunter and Lee has gone down in infamy and remains one of the defining images of the 1970s.
However, recalling the incident to TalkSport, Hunter admitted that he now regrets the fight, having made up with Lee following their playing careers.
Hunter said: “I enjoyed playing against Franny. That was just an incident that happened that I’m not very proud of. I’ve seen the little fella since and he’s a smashing bloke; we actually get on quite well.
“I was stood at the top of the steps once, and I hadn’t since Franny since the punch-up. He was coming up the steps as chairman of Man City, and I looked at him in his face and I thought, ‘oh no, here we go again’.
“But he got two steps away from me and a big smile broke out on his face, and he said, ‘let’s go in that boardroom and finish that fight!’.”
It is a tribute to both men that they were able to put their differences aside on the field and retain a mutual respect in retirement.
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