Norman Hunter, former Leeds and England defender, in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus

Leeds United have confirmed that their celebrated former centre-half Norman Hunter, once an England international, is being treated in hospital having tested positive for coronavirus.

The 76-year-old’s condition is not known. A member of the great Don Revie team that was promoted from the Second Division in 1964 and went on to be part of the English elite for the next ten years with two league titles, one FA Cup and two appearances in European finals, Hunter has a key role in the club’s history.

He worked regularly at the club in recent years mingling with guests in hospitality at Elland Road on matchdays and lives in the west of the city in Horsforth, having originally been from County Durham. Recruited by Leeds as a teenager he went on to be a first team regular for 13 seasons, finally leaving when the side was on the decline in 1976.

Hunter was a famously uncompromising centre-half whose nickname was “Bites Yer Legs”. Leeds said in a statement on Friday: “Keep battling Norman, we are all with you.”

Hunter was an unused player in Sir Alf Ramsey’s victorious England squad at the 1966 World Cup finals. Another member of that squad, Jimmy Greaves, remains in hospital for treatment unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement his family said that the 80-year-old was still receiving treatment. He has not suffered another stroke. Greaves, the greatest league goalscorer in English football history, has suffered severe strokes in recent years which had left him needing 24-hour care.

The Greaves family said in a statement on Facebook: “It's still a case of no news is good news at the moment. Jimmy isn't a well man but he is in hospital receiving the best possible care thanks to the amazing doctors and nurses of the NHS at this difficult time for everyone.”