Gordon Hill (referee)
Encyclopedia
Gordon W. Hill is an English
former football
referee in the Football League
. He originally comes from Bolton, Lancashire.
School, Great Lever
in Bolton. He later moved to Waterfoot, Rossendale
in Lancashire and attended Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School
from 1936. Upon leaving school in 1946, he moved to London
to train as a teacher for two years. He returned to Lancashire to take up his teaching career, briefly, in Bacup
. After an 18-month spell of compulsory National Service, he taught in Bury
from 1950 to 1955, then returned to teach in Bacup until 1960, and subsequently moved to a post in Scunthorpe
, Lincolnshire
, until his re-location to Leicester
in 1966.
He spent six years on the line before progressing to the list of Football League referees. Shortly after, he moved to Leicester, and remained there for the rest of his refereeing career. He quickly established himself and on March 14, 1970 took charge of the FA Cup
semi-final between Chelsea
(the eventual Cup winners) and Watford
at White Hart Lane
. He became a regular face in top division football and was renowned for his "player-centred" approach. Hill aimed to build closer relationships with players, and wanted to distance himself from the traditional image of the referee as an aloof disciplinarian. This approach appears to be have been well regarded by players, managers and fans but did not always find favour with the authorities. Particular tensions arose early in the 1971-72
season, when the League was instigating a disciplinary crackdown, and this made the lenient and individualistic Hill uneasy.
Hill was generally unhappy with the expectation that referees be low-profile, conformist figures. This even extended to him challenging the dress code of the time which stipulated that referees should have four inches of white turnover on their black socks. He did so by having a small extra band of black over the white turnover. More controversially, he admitted swearing on the pitch. Although players were known to swear, many figures, including other officials such as Pat Partridge
,‡ considered this unwise for a referee, but Hill felt it was natural behaviour for him and helped him communicate more effectively on the pitch.
Despite his strong profile of games, Hill never made the FIFA
List, and he remarked in his 1975 autobiography, "Give a little Whistle: The Recollections of a Remarkable Referee", that this may have been due to his non-conformist approach. However, he continued to handle key games. In 1973, he controlled the Charity Shield match between Manchester City
and Burnley
. Late that season, in April 1974, he was in charge of Burnley again during the FA Cup semi-final in which Newcastle
defeated them 2-0.
1974-75
was Hill's final season and was marked by his most senior match - the League Cup Final
between Aston Villa
and Norwich City
at Wembley on March 1, 1975. Villa won when Ray Graydon
scored from the rebound after having his penalty saved.
Shortly after, he reached the retirement age (then forty-seven) for referees. He decided at this time to give up his post as headteacher at a school in Leicester and leave the UK to take up another teaching post in the United States
, coupled with a role in refereeing in that country. In his nine years in the middle in the Football League he never sent off a player in that competition or the two main Cups, a remarkable record even for those more lenient times. When he had his autobiography published - at that time, one of the few referees to do so - it reflected his high profile. In the book, he expressed support for various ideas now adopted, such as a select group of officials handling all the top games, use of filmed match footage to train referees, greater liaison between referees and assessors, extensions beyond retirement age for exceptional referees, and an end to League referees being employed as linesmen in Cup Finals.
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England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
former football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
referee in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
. He originally comes from Bolton, Lancashire.
Early life
In his early years he attended St. Simon and St Jude’s C of EChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
School, Great Lever
Great Lever
Great Lever is mainly a residential suburb of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Historically within Lancashire, it is about 2½ miles south of Bolton town centre and the same distance north of Farnworth town centre. Great Lever has many shops and services serving the local community...
in Bolton. He later moved to Waterfoot, Rossendale
Waterfoot, Rossendale
Waterfoot is a small Rossendale mill-town at between Rawtenstall and Bacup in Lancashire where the B6238 from Burnley meets the A681. It is where the River Whitwell meets the River Irwell.- History :...
in Lancashire and attended Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School is a selective co-educational foundation school in Waterfoot, Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The school is named after the two main towns either side of Waterfoot, Bacup and Rawtenstall.-History:...
from 1936. Upon leaving school in 1946, he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to train as a teacher for two years. He returned to Lancashire to take up his teaching career, briefly, in Bacup
Bacup
Bacup is a town within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. It is located amongst the South Pennines, along Lancashire's eastern boundary with West Yorkshire. The town sits within a rural setting in the Forest of Rossendale, amongst the steep-sided upper-Irwell Valley, through which the...
. After an 18-month spell of compulsory National Service, he taught in Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
from 1950 to 1955, then returned to teach in Bacup until 1960, and subsequently moved to a post in Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, until his re-location to Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
in 1966.
Career
Hill played amateur football and trained as a coach, but injury caused him to give up playing. In 1952 he started refereeing on local parks around Bacup and over the next few years made good progress. Whilst teaching in Scunthorpe in 1960, he became a Football League linesman.He spent six years on the line before progressing to the list of Football League referees. Shortly after, he moved to Leicester, and remained there for the rest of his refereeing career. He quickly established himself and on March 14, 1970 took charge of the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
semi-final between Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
(the eventual Cup winners) and Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
at White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....
. He became a regular face in top division football and was renowned for his "player-centred" approach. Hill aimed to build closer relationships with players, and wanted to distance himself from the traditional image of the referee as an aloof disciplinarian. This approach appears to be have been well regarded by players, managers and fans but did not always find favour with the authorities. Particular tensions arose early in the 1971-72
1971-72 in English football
The 1971–72 season was the 92nd season of competitive football in England.-FA Cup:Leeds United overcame holders Arsenal to win the 1972 FA Cup Final...
season, when the League was instigating a disciplinary crackdown, and this made the lenient and individualistic Hill uneasy.
Hill was generally unhappy with the expectation that referees be low-profile, conformist figures. This even extended to him challenging the dress code of the time which stipulated that referees should have four inches of white turnover on their black socks. He did so by having a small extra band of black over the white turnover. More controversially, he admitted swearing on the pitch. Although players were known to swear, many figures, including other officials such as Pat Partridge
Pat Partridge
Patrick "Pat" Partridge is a retired English football referee, and former President of the Association of Football League Referees and Linesmen. His occupation outside football was as a farmer. He originates from Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, and took the name of his father, Patrick Partridge,...
,‡ considered this unwise for a referee, but Hill felt it was natural behaviour for him and helped him communicate more effectively on the pitch.
Despite his strong profile of games, Hill never made the FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
List, and he remarked in his 1975 autobiography, "Give a little Whistle: The Recollections of a Remarkable Referee", that this may have been due to his non-conformist approach. However, he continued to handle key games. In 1973, he controlled the Charity Shield match between Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
. Late that season, in April 1974, he was in charge of Burnley again during the FA Cup semi-final in which Newcastle
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
defeated them 2-0.
1974-75
1974-75 in English football
The 1974–75 season was the 95th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :Dave Mackay guided Derby County to their second league title in four years having overcome strong competition from Liverpool, Ipswich Town, Everton, Stoke City, Manchester City, Sheffield United and...
was Hill's final season and was marked by his most senior match - the League Cup Final
1975 Football League Cup Final
The 1975 Football League Cup Final took place on 1 March 1975 at the old Wembley Stadium. It was contested between Aston Villa and Norwich City. To date it is the only time a major domestic Cup Final that has been played at Wembley Stadium between two clubs where neither were then currently in...
between Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
and Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
at Wembley on March 1, 1975. Villa won when Ray Graydon
Ray Graydon
Ray Graydon is an English football manager and retired football player. He was recently employed as First Team Coach of Championship team, Leicester City while Rob Kelly was manager during the 2005-06 season.-Playing career:...
scored from the rebound after having his penalty saved.
Shortly after, he reached the retirement age (then forty-seven) for referees. He decided at this time to give up his post as headteacher at a school in Leicester and leave the UK to take up another teaching post in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, coupled with a role in refereeing in that country. In his nine years in the middle in the Football League he never sent off a player in that competition or the two main Cups, a remarkable record even for those more lenient times. When he had his autobiography published - at that time, one of the few referees to do so - it reflected his high profile. In the book, he expressed support for various ideas now adopted, such as a select group of officials handling all the top games, use of filmed match footage to train referees, greater liaison between referees and assessors, extensions beyond retirement age for exceptional referees, and an end to League referees being employed as linesmen in Cup Finals.
- Football League Handbooks, 1960–1970
- Rothmans Football Yearbooks, 1971–1975
- †Give a little Whistle: The Recollections of a Remarkable Referee, by Gordon Hill & Jason Thomas, (Souvenir Press Ltd 1975), ISBN 0285621874
- ‡Oh, Ref!, by Pat Partridge & John Gibson, (Souvenir Press Ltd 1979), ISBN 0285624237
External links
- Online quotes from his book, during a feature article on Swedish ex-referee Anders FriskAnders FriskAnders Frisk is an insurance agent by trade and a former football referee. Frisk chose to go into early retirement from refereeing due to pressure from death threats made against him and his family. These death threats were made by Chelsea fans because Frisk sent off Didier Drogba in the first...
: Guardian UnlimitedGuardian Unlimitedguardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
online