Who was the first winner of the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, in 1974?

Norman Hunter and the Birth of the PFA Award

When the Professional Footballers' Association launched its Players' Player of the Year award in 1974, there was something genuinely meaningful about who the players themselves chose to honour first. This wasn't a panel of journalists or a vote from the public — it was footballers voting for a fellow footballer. And in that inaugural year, they gave the prize to one of the hardest, most respected defenders in the game: Norman Hunter of Leeds United.

Why Norman Hunter?

Hunter had spent over a decade as the defensive backbone of Don Revie's formidable Leeds side. By 1974, he was at the peak of his powers — a ferocious, technically accomplished centre-back who could read the game as well as he could crunch an opponent. His nickname, "Bites Yer Legs," tells you something about his reputation, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Hunter was no mere hatchet man. He was an intelligent, composed defender who won the ball cleanly more often than his fearsome image suggested.

Leeds finished second in the First Division that season and had been genuine title contenders for years. Hunter was central to everything Revie built — a leader in the dressing room and an automatic pick for club and country. His peers clearly saw what the wider public sometimes missed beneath the tough-guy image.

What Made the Vote So Significant

The PFA award carries a special weight precisely because the voters are professionals themselves. Getting recognition from the people you train against, battle against, and compete against every single week is arguably more meaningful than any other individual honour in English football. Hunter earned that recognition not through charm or publicity, but through sheer consistent excellence over a long career.

It's also worth noting the calibre of players who came after him in the award's early history. Colin Todd, the elegant Derby County defender, won it the following year in 1975. The award quickly established itself as a genuine barometer of quality, with winners like Pat Jennings, Peter Shilton, and Kevin Keegan following in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Hunter's Legacy

Norman Hunter went on to play for Bristol City and Barnsley after leaving Leeds, even managing the latter with some success. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003. Sadly, he passed away in April 2020 after contracting COVID-19, prompting an enormous outpouring of tributes from across the football world.

But that 1974 award remains a defining moment in his legacy — proof that even in an era packed with brilliant players, his fellow professionals looked around the dressing rooms of English football and decided Norman Hunter deserved to be first.