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RIP Norman Hunter


BCFC1512

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RIP Norman. I too was privileged to see you play for our club and you always remained one of my heroes. When you signed a lot thought we were getting a player at the end of his career but you were so much more than that. It was a pleasure to see you in the red of City.

Sadly this was one challenge that you couldn`t win but you will always have a place in our hearts and memories.

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47 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

Very sad news. I guess his Leeds years were his heyday, but he was still a class player during his seasons here.  They don't make 'em that tough any more!

Even a slightly past his peak Norman was still better than almost any other defender, feel privileged to have seen him in the flesh and as you say he was class to the end. 

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R I P Norman. i remember the last game he played for us at Ashton Gate. i was in the East End packed as it always was. Norman was getting some some gifts from the crowd when the fans started singing Norman stay with us o norman stay o norman stay with us. will never forget that very emotional stuff. he gave is all for city. a real legend. never be forgotten 

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Chatting with my Dad about him earlier, he told me that one of the amateur sides my uncle used to manage in the 80s often had the privilege of Norman taking training sessions. All in his own free time and without wanting anything in return. One if the nicest blokes you could ever meet by all accounts.

RIP Norman.

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My overriding memory from my first ever game in 76/77 is seeing Norman warm-up pre-match, a big bold white number 6 on the back of a beautiful red shirt. I was 10 years old and absolutely dumbstruck to actually see one of my City heroes in the flesh. An absolute legend in just a short time spent in Bristol.

RIP Norman, never forgotten...

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Very, very sad news indeed.

Norman wasn't just a terrific footballer but he was a really good person.

When Norman was preparing to leave Bristol, and move back up North, he put his sports shop in a parade of shops at Whitchurch up for sale. I can't remember the actual address (not being a Bristolian) but from a hazy memory some 45 years later, I think it was the shop lease, the stock and the trading name (Norman Hunter Sports??) that was for sale.

I was in my early 20s, a little unsettled at work and looking for a new challenge so I made an appointment to view it.

I can't recall who I made the appointment with but I think it must have been with a property agent because I clearly recall pitching up there one evening after work and being absolutely surprised and delighted to find that it was my footballing hero and the universally acclaimed legend himself waiting, on his own, to show me around.

Anyone who remembers the shop will remember that it was tiny so that bit didn't take long!

I've never forgotten what happened next though because, once I'd overcome my nervousness, we chatted away for at least 15/20 minutes.

During our chat, Norman asked what I did for a living. He seemed genuinely interested (in my fledgling retail career) and asked me a good few questions before advising me that taking over his shop was not the right thing for me to do and that I should stick with the company that I was with where there would be more opportunities for career progression.

When you're in your early 20s and one of your footballing heroes gives you advice, you take it. I stuck with the company I was with for a further 25 years and things did work out well there (and thereafter).

Over the years, as I've reflected on that almost surreal evening, I've always returned to the appreciation of what a really good person Norman was. He wanted/needed to sell the business but not so much that he'd encourage me, a young lad with a potentially good career ahead of him, to risk taking it over.

A kind and decent man who I've never forgotten and never will forget.

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