Gordon Hill (footballer)

Gordon Hill

Personal information
Full name	Gordon Alec Hill
Date of birth	1 April 1954 (1954-04-01) (age 57)
Place of birth	Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, England
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1971–1972	Staines Town
	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)
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	?	(?)
National team
	England U21	1	(0)
1976–1977	England	6	(0)
Teams managed
1991	Nova Scotia Clippers
2001	Chester City
	Hyde United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Gordon Alec Hill (born 1 April 1954 in Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex) 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

In 1971, Hill began his club career with Staines Town F.C. of the Athenian League as a seventeen year old. In 1972, he moved to Southall F.C., playing a few youth games there while his brother was on trial at the club. He drew the attention of Millwall F.C. 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 some incredible shooting and dribbling and it was not long before scouts from the big clubs noticed him. 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, a massive bargain for manager Tommy Docherty, forming a wing partnership with Steve Coppell.

Hill helped United reach the 1976 FA Cup Final, scoring both goals with typical long-range efforts in the semi-final at Hillsborough Stadium against Derby County. He was also part of the 1977 FA Cup champions. Hill left United for Derby County for £250,000 in 1978.^[5] He spent two seasons with Derby County, most of it sidelined with a knee injury before moving to Queens Park Rangers in 1980. 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, 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 team-mate Stuart Pearson at Northwich Victoria, before retiring from the game. Now Gordon trains his own club (United F.C) in Texas to seal the deal

Manager

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. In 2001, he briefly managed Chester City during their spell in the Football Conference, and had a short spell managing Hyde United. He is the owner and head coach of United FC, a youth soccer club in McKinney, Texas. Although United FC has no formal connection to Manchester United, Hill admits that any promising players would be steered towards his former team. He returns to the UK several times a year to help run soccer schools in Newport and Cardiff.^[9]

International career

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.^[10]

References

1. ^ "Gordon Hill". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/gordonhill.htm. Retrieved 25 January 2010. 
2. ^ "Gordon Hill". Englandstats. http://www.englandstats.com/playerreport.php?pid=476. Retrieved 25 January 2010. 
3. ^ Millwall F.C. players
4. ^ The Year in American Soccer - 1975
5. ^ Manchester United: Gordon Hill
6. ^ Zungul Deal Seems Closer
7. ^ The Year in American Soccer - 1983
8. ^ Friday's Transactions
9. ^ "Best & Worst: Gordon Hill". The Sunday Times (Times Newspapers). 7 March 2010. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_united/article7052368.ece. Retrieved 12 March 2010. 
10. ^ "Gordon Hill". TheFA.com. The Football Association. http://www.thefa.com/England/MensSeniorTeam/Archive.aspx?p=336140. Retrieved 15 September 2009. 

External links

• England stats
• North American Soccer League bio
• Bio - sporting-heroes.net

Preceded by David Nolan

Hyde United manager October–December 2002

Succeeded by Steve Waywell

Persondata
Name	Hill, Gordon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 April 1954
Place of birth	Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, England
Date of death
Place of death