This is a query that has come up time and again.
Especially at the get-togethers marking Leeds’ championship in 1992 or Blackburn Rovers’ Premier League triumph three years on.
Batty played a part in both historic feats, but former Blackburn midfielder Mark Atkins hasn’t been in touch with him since their playing careers ended.
“We’ve tried to bring him along to the events we’ve held, but no one can reach him,” he said.
“That’s just not who he is. Even if he were only down the road, he wouldn’t show up because he’s a very private individual, honestly.”
Aside from a rare appearance at Elland Road to lay a floral tribute on the turf for his dear friend Gary Speed after his heartbreaking loss in 2011, Batty has largely stayed out of the limelight.
Viduka, who discreetly opened a café in Croatia after retiring, can empathise.
“These days, people broadcast every moment of their lives, like what they ate for breakfast,” he said. “Does anyone actually care?
“If there was ever a person who was not going to act that way, it was Batts.”
Instead of hosting corporate clients, working as an agent or taking a role in the press, Batty always intended to give his time wholly to his family in Yorkshire once he hung up his boots.
This has only strengthened the legend around a player whom former Leeds teammate Eirik Bakke described as one of his “heroes”.
“If someone went in hard on you, Batts was always there to stick up for you,” he said. “You don’t find those kinds of players often. You could always depend on him.”
Batty was far more than simply an enforcer, though.
Along with holding his ground and fiercely winning the ball, the England international very rarely gave it away.
Those attributes immediately caught the eye of ex-Leeds midfielder John Sheridan, who was Batty’s “mentor” in his early years at the club.
“Looking at him back then, you’d think he was the meekest soul,” he said.
“But he was hard as nails. He made football look incredibly simple just by doing the straightforward things with such ease.”
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