Gordon Hill (footballer)

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Gordon Hill
Personal information
Full name Gordon Alec Hill
Date of birth (1954-04-01) 1 April 1954 (age 70)
Place of birth Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, England
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
Queens Park Rangers
Southend United
1971–1972 Staines Town
1972 Slough
1972–1973 Southall
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1973–1975 Millwall 91 (22)
1975 → Chicago Sting (loan) 21 (16)
1975–1978 Manchester United 101 (39)
1978–1979 Derby County 24 (5)
1979–1981 Queens Park Rangers 14 (1)
1981–1982 Montreal Manic 36 (18)
1981–1982 Montreal Manic (indoor) 16 (29)
1982 Chicago Sting 26 (9)
1982–1983 Chicago Sting (indoor) 11 (10)
1983 San Jose Earthquakes (indoor) 4 (2)
1983 New York Arrows (indoor) 22 (10)
1983 Inter-Montreal ?
1983–1984 Kansas City Comets (indoor) 50 (50)
1984–1985 Tacoma Stars (indoor) 19 (11)
1985–1986 Twente 19 (4)
1986 HJK Helsinki 2 (2)
1986–1988 Stafford Rangers ? (?)
1988 Northwich Victoria 24 (8)
1991 Nova Scotia Clippers 15 (4)
International career
1976 England U23 1 (1)
1976–1977 England 6 (0)
Managerial career
1991 Nova Scotia Clippers
2001 Chester City
2002 Hyde United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gordon Alec Hill (born 1 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Millwall, Manchester United, Derby County and Queens Park Rangers, and was capped six times for the England national team.[1][2]

Player[edit]

In 1971, after leaving Longford School, Hill began his club career with Staines Town of the Athenian League as a 17-year-old. In 1972, he moved to Southall, playing a few youth games there while his brother was on trial at the club. He drew the attention of Millwall and signed with them in 1973. Known to The Lions fans as 'Merlin', Hill had outstanding skill that earned him wide recognition. The Millwall youngster entertained the fans with high-class shooting and dribbling.[citation needed]

He played 91 league games for Millwall, scoring 22 goals.[3] After spending the summer of 1975 on loan with the North American Soccer League's Chicago Sting, and being named All League,[4] Hill subsequently signed for Manchester United in November 1975 for £70,000, forming a wing partnership with Steve Coppell.

Hill helped United reach the 1976 FA Cup Final, scoring both goals with long-range efforts in the semi-final at Hillsborough Stadium against Derby County. United lost in the final against Southampton. He was also part of the 1977 FA Cup-winning side. Hill left United for Derby County for £250,000 in 1978, with his sale by Dave Sexton deeply unpopular with supporters. At the time of his sale, Hill was United's top scorer and a favourite among fans.[5]

He spent two seasons with Derby County, most of it sidelined with a knee injury suffered in one of his first games, before moving to Queens Park Rangers in 1979. He left England for the Montreal Manic of the NASL in 1981. After a successful first season with the Manic, he began the 1982 season in Montreal, but after five games the Manic sent him to the Chicago Sting. In the fall of 1982, the Sting entered the Major Indoor Soccer League for the winter indoor season. Hill began the season with the Sting, and moved to the San Jose Earthquakes after eleven games. In January 1983, the Earthquakes turned around and traded Hill and Gary Etherington to the New York Arrows in exchange for Steve Zungul.[6] In the summer of 1983, Hill played for Inter-Montreal of the Canadian Professional Soccer League.[7]

In the autumn of 1983, Hill signed with the Kansas City Comets of MISL. He played one season with the Comets, then began the 1984–85 season before being released. In December 1984, he signed with the Tacoma Stars.[8]

He joined FC Twente in the Dutch Premier Division for the 1985–86 season, playing 19 times and scoring four goals. He spent the summer of 1986 in Finland with HJK Helsinki, scoring two goals in as many appearances before returning to England where he played under his former teammate Stuart Pearson at Northwich Victoria, before retiring from the game.

Manager[edit]

In the summer of 1991, Hill was managing director, Head Coach and Player of the Nova Scotia Clippers in the team's only year in the Canadian Soccer League, where he took the club to the playoffs.[9] In 2001, he briefly managed Chester City during their spell in the Football Conference, and had a short spell managing Hyde United. He was the Director of coaching (Boys) for Cleveland United SC 2012–13.[citation needed]

In 2010, The Sunday Times reported that Hill returns to the UK several times a year with groups of players to play games in the Manchester area.[10]

International career[edit]

During his career, Hill played at every level for England: as an amateur, youth, under 23, England B and full International, at which level he won six full caps between 1976 and 1977.[11]

Honours[edit]

Club[edit]

Manchester United

Individual[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Gordon Hill". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Gordon Hill". Englandstats.com. Retrieved 25 January 2010. Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ Millwall F.C. players
  4. ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1975". Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  5. ^ Manchester United: Gordon Hill
  6. ^ "Zungul Deal Seems Closer (Published 1983)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023.
  7. ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1983". Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  8. ^ Friday's Transactions
  9. ^ "Gordon Hill soccer statistics on StatsCrew.com".
  10. ^ "The Times & the Sunday Times". The Sunday Times. Times Newspapers. 7 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  11. ^ "Gordon Hill". The Football Association. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  12. ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1975". Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2010.

External links[edit]

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