Ron Atkinson in The Guardian:
Once I had given Norman his debut at the end of my first season at Old
Trafford only injuries kept him out but I think it was easier for a teenager
to bed into that United team than it would be now at Goodison.
Without being disrespectful to Everton, we had a more than decent team. We
were on top of a lot of matches and that makes a big difference. Norman was
also a mature lad. I never thought of him as 16. He was 16 going on 27.
He played in the World Cup at 17 and it was obvious that nothing fazed him.
I was in Valencia that famous night when Northern Ireland beat Spain and
remember seeing Norman crash into Juanito, the Spanish right-winger and idol
of the country.
He put Juanito into a row just in front of us and the lad almost landed in
King Juan Carlos' lap. I thought: "Norman, hang on a bit, son." But that
summed him up. By 21 he had played in cup finals, two World Cups and
captained Manchester United. It was such a shame about his knee problems
because he would have been a legend at Old Trafford.