Jack Hill (footballer)
Encyclopedia
John "Jack" Henry Hill was an English
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...

 footballer who played in his club career with various teams, including 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...

 and Newcastle United
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...

 between 1920 and 1934. He made eleven appearances for England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

, eight as captain. He subsequently played for, and then managed, Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...

.

Early career

Hill was born at Hetton-le-Hole
Hetton-le-Hole
Hetton-le-Hole is a town and civil parish situated in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the A182 between Houghton-le-Spring and Easington Lane. It is located on the southwest corner of Sunderland on the A182, off A690 close to the A1. It has a population of 14,402 but this...

, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

 and, after playing junior football in and around Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

 whilst working as a coal-miner
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

, he joined Durham City in 1919.

Plymouth Argyle

After a brief period, he moved in September 1920 to Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 to join Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...

, who had recently been admitted to the Football League Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

. He remained for three seasons at Home Park
Home Park
Home Park is an all-seater football stadium in the Central Park area of Plymouth, England, and is the home of Football League Two club Plymouth Argyle. The ground, given the nickname the Theatre of Greens by the club's supporters, has been Argyle's permanent residence since 1901...

, in the last two of which Argyle finished as runners-up in the (now) Third Division South missing out on the single promotion place available firstly
1921-22 in English football
The 1921–22 season was the 47th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The league underwent a major expansion for the second consecutive season, adding 20 teams from the Midlands and Northern England. They were placed in the new Third Division North, and the existing southern-based...

 to Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

 on goal difference
Goal difference
In sports such as ice hockey and association football, goal difference is often the first tiebreaker used to rank teams which finish a league competition with an equal number of points....

 and then
1922-23 in English football
The 1922–23 season was the 48th season of competitive football in England.-Events:Liverpool retained the First Division title, but halfway through the season their manager David Ashworth left the club to take over at Oldham Athletic, who ended the season relegated.-Honours:Notes = Number in...

 to Bristol City
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

.

Burnley

In May 1923, he was sold to First Division 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...

 for a fee of £5,450. After representing the Football League on three occasions, he received his first England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 call up for a British Home Championship
British Home Championship
The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84...

 match in Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

 on 28 February 1925. In this match he played at right-half, with Charlie Spencer
Charlie Spencer
Charles William "Charlie" Spencer was an English footballer and manager.-Playing:Spencer joined Newcastle United from non-league football in October 1921. He played for the club until 1928, making a total of 175 appearances and scored 1 goal.In January 1928, Spencer signed for Manchester United...

 in the centre. England ran out 2–1 victors, with goals from Frank Roberts.

His next England call-up came against Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 in April 1926, when he took over the No. 5 shirt, which he was to retain for the remainder of his England career. The following year, he took over the captain's armband for the match at Hampden Park
Hampden Park
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...

, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, which England won 2–1, both goals coming from Dixie Dean
Dixie Dean
William Ralph Dean , better known as Dixie Dean, was an English football player. Dean originally started his career with Birkenhead based Tranmere Rovers before moving on to Everton, the club he had supported as a child, where he became one of the most prolific goal-scorers in English football...

.

In May 1927, England went on a three-match tour of Europe. In the first match, against Belgium, England ran up nine goals including a hat trick
Hat Trick
Hat trick, hat-trick or hattrick may refer to:* hat-trick — in various sports, achieving three goals, wickets, etc. in a single match* Hattrick — online football management game** Hattrick Limited — producers of this game...

 from Dixie Dean and a pair each from George Brown and Arthur Rigby
Arthur Rigby
Arthur Rigby was an English professional footballer who played as inside left or outside left...

. Hill sat out the next match (against Luxembourg
Luxembourg national football team
The Luxembourg national football team is the national football team of Luxembourg, and is controlled by the Luxembourg Football Federation. The team play most of their home matches at the Stade Josy Barthel, in Luxembourg.- History :...

) but returned for the match at the Colombes Stadium
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
The Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir - stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France . Named in memory of French rugby player Yves du Manoir in 1928. Was the main stadium for the 1924 Summer Olympics and had a capacity of 45,000 at the time...

 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. England again won convincingly, defeating France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

 by six goals (including two each from Dean and Brown).

Hill retained his place for the opening match of the 1928 British Home Championship
1928 British Home Championship
The 1928 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played during the 1927–28 season between the British Home Nations. The competition was won by Wales who did not lose a game and only dropped a single point during the tournament...

 against Ireland at Windsor Park
Windsor Park
Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the home ground of Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team. It is also where the Irish Cup and Irish League Cup finals are played.-History:...

, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 on 22 October 1927. Despite going into the game with high expectations, England had a torrid time. After twenty minutes goalkeeper
Goalkeeper (football)
In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

 Ted Hufton
Ted Hufton
Arthur Edward Hufton , better known as Ted Hufton, was an England international goalkeeper who earned six caps for his country....

 broke his arm when diving at the feet of Jackie Mahood. Hufton played on but was unable to prevent an own goal
Own goal
An own net occurs in goal-scoring games when a player scores a goal that is registered against his or her own team. It is usually accidental, and may be a result of an attempt at defensive play that failed or was spoiled by opponents....

 after 36 minutes, when Herbert Jones
Herbert Jones (footballer)
Herbert "Taffy" Jones was an English professional footballer. He played as a defender.-Early life:Jones trained as a plumber before World War I. He lied to enlist, signing up illegally aged 15. During the war, he was stationed in France. He took part in the famous events of Christmas 1915...

 deflected Robert Irvine's shot past him. Hufton was eventually taken off after 40 minutes and rushed to hospital, to be replaced in goal by Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...

's John Ball
John Ball (footballer born 1900)
John Ball was an English international footballer, who played as an inside left.-Career:Born in Stockport, Ball played professionally for Bury, and earned one cap for England in 1927....

 on his solitary England appearance. The position soon worsened as Hill had to retire at half time due to a "nasty" leg injury. England played the rest of the match with 9 men, and went down 2–0.

Hill recovered in time for the next England match, against Wales five weeks later to be played at Burnley's Turf Moor
Turf Moor
Turf Moor is a football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire. It is the home ground of Burnley Football Club, which has played there since moving from its Calder Vale ground in 1883. The stadium, which is situated on Harry Potts Way, named so after the club's longest serving Manager, has a capacity of...

 ground. The situation for England did not improve, however. Dan Tremelling
Dan Tremelling
Richard Daniel "Dan" Tremelling was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made nearly 450 appearances in the Football League for Birmingham and Bury, including more than 300 in the First Division, and was capped for England.His younger brother, Billy, played for...

 replaced Hufton in goal for his solitary England appearance, whilst defenders Alf Baker
Alf Baker
Alfred Baker was an English footballer.Born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, Baker was originally a miner and played for various clubs in Derbyshire as an amateur, including Eastwood Rangers. During World War I he guested for Chesterfield, Crystal Palace and Huddersfield Town, although these appearances...

 (Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

) and Reg Osborne
Reg Osborne
Reginald Osborne was a professional footballer who played as a full back for Leicester City in the 1920s and also made one appearance for England.-Playing career:...

 (Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

) were given their first (and only) chances at international level. England were soon behind to a goal from Wilf Lewis
Wilf Lewis
Wilfred Leslie "Wilf" Lewis was a former footballer, who played for Swansea Town, Huddersfield Town, Derby County and Yeovil and Petters United. He also played international football for Wales on six occasions.-References:...

, and after 40 minutes Hill deflected a cross into his own net. In the second half, Roy Goodall
Roy Goodall
Frederick Roy Goodall was a professional footballer, who played for Huddersfield Town for 16 years and played 25 games for England, 12 as captain....

 had the chance to bring England back into the game but missed his penalty. When England finally scored, this was an own goal as Fred Keenor
Fred Keenor
Frederick Charles 'Fred' Keenor was a Welsh professional footballer and Wales international best known for captaining the Cardiff City team to success in the 1927 FA Cup Final...

 deflected Louis Page
Louis Page
Louis Antonio Page was an England international football player and football manager. He was the younger brother of Tom Page.-Club career:Page began his senior career with Merseyside clubs Everton and South Liverpool...

's corner past Bert Gray
Bert Gray
Albert Gray was a Welsh international footballer who played as goalkeeper for various clubs in the 1920s and 1930s, including Oldham Athletic, Manchester City, Tranmere Rovers and Chester...

 in the Welsh goal. (Some sources claim that it was Gray himself who turned the ball into the net.)

Hill was not selected for the final match in the 1928 British Home Championship
1928 British Home Championship
The 1928 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played during the 1927–28 season between the British Home Nations. The competition was won by Wales who did not lose a game and only dropped a single point during the tournament...

 against Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 the following March, when England were soundly defeated 5–1, with goals from Alex Jackson
Alex Jackson
Alexander Skinner Jackson was a Scottish footballer.Alex Jackson was born in Renton in 1905. A highly-talented winger, known as the Gay Cavalier, he was particularly adept at dribbling and free kicks. He initially played for Renton Victoria Football Club but was transferred to Dumbarton F.C. in...

 (3) and Alex James
Alex James (footballer)
Alexander Wilson James was a Scottish footballer, and is most noted for his success with Arsenal, where he is regarded as one of the club's greatest players of all time. James played as an inside forward, as a supporting player for the main strikers...

 (2). (For an analysis of this match see Wembley Wizards
Wembley Wizards
- Aftermath :When asked for his comment after the game, Alex James simply beamed a smile and said, “We could have had ten!”Back in Scotland the pubs did rather well and the newspapers were not slow in piling praise on the heads of those little no-hopers of the Scottish side...

.) Thus England finished the championship at the foot of the table, with three defeats - this was the first time since the commencement of the British Home Championship
British Home Championship
The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84...

 that England had failed to take a single point.

Newcastle United

In October 1928, Hill moved to Newcastle United
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...

, who were looking for a replacement for Charlie Spencer
Charlie Spencer
Charles William "Charlie" Spencer was an English footballer and manager.-Playing:Spencer joined Newcastle United from non-league football in October 1921. He played for the club until 1928, making a total of 175 appearances and scored 1 goal.In January 1928, Spencer signed for Manchester United...

. Hill had been recommended to the Newcastle board by Scottish forward Hughie Gallacher
Hughie Gallacher
Hugh Kilpatrick "Hughie" Gallacher was a Scottish football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 624 senior games, Gallacher scored 463 times....

, who had come up against Hill several times at both club and international level. As local rivals Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

 were also keen to sign Hill, Newcastle needed to pay a record transfer fee of £8,100 to secure his services.

Described as being "tall and lanky" (he was 6'3"), Hill soon became Newcastle's captain and "with his willingness to move forward from defence and his quality of distribution", he was also a great favourite with the fans. Unfortunately, after only a couple of seasons at St James' Park
St James' Park
St James' Park, known for sponsorship reasons as the Sports Direct Arena, is an all-seater stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United Football Club and is the sixth largest football stadium in the United Kingdom with a capacity of between 52,387 and 52,409.St James'...

, Jack fell into dispute with Newcastle's directors, which led to his premature departure, leaving for Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

 in June 1931 for a fee of £7,500.

In May 1929, Hill had been recalled to the England team as captain for a tour of Europe when they defeated France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

 4–1 (two goals each from George Camsell
George Camsell
George Henry Camsell was an English football player, most notably for Middlesbrough.Born in Framwellgate Moor, Durham City in 1902, Camsell played for Durham City before signing for Middlesbrough on 6 October 1925 for the sum of £500. His debut was against Nottingham Forest on 31 October 1925...

 and Edgar Kail
Edgar Kail
Edgar Isaac Lewis Kail was a former England footballer. He gained three caps in 1929 for England, playing Spain, Belgium and France. He scored two goals on his debut against France. Kail was a committed amateur, turning down moves to professional clubs to stay at his club, Dulwich Hamlet...

) and Belgium 5–1, when Camsell scored another four goals, including a hat-trick in six minutes. For the final match of the tour, England played Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...

 for the first time ever and in a closely fought match, the Spaniards prevailed by five goals to four. During his England career, Hill had played eleven matches, eight as captain, with a record of six victories, one draw and four defeats.

Hull City

Hill only stayed at Bradford City until November 1931, before moving to Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...

 in a swap deal with Stan Alexander
Stan Alexander
Stanley "Stan" Alexander was a professional footballer who played as inside forward. He was born in Percy Main, North Tyneside, England.Alexander's activiy benefitted the clubs:*Hull City;*Bradford City where he scored 23 goals in 61 games,...

 going the other way. In his third season, he helped Hull win the Third Division North title. This was the only title won by Hill during his fifteen year playing career.

Managerial and later career

After three seasons with Hull as a player, in March 1934 Hill took over the managerial reins from Haydn Green
Haydn Green
Adrian "Haydn" Green was an English football player and manager. After playing for Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Newport County and Reading, he went on to manage Ebbw Vale, Bangor, Hull City, Swansea Town and Watford.At Hull City, whom he managed from May 1931 until March...

. In his first season in charge, Hull finished comfortably mid-table in the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

. Things did not turn out so well in the following season, and in January 1936, Hill was dismissed, to be replaced by David Menzies
David Menzies (football manager)
David Menzies was a Scottish football player and manager.-Career:Menzies was a player at Raith Rovers where his father was chairman. In 1903 he joined newly-formed English side Bradford City as a reserve player. He also served as a steward and trainer until the outbreak of World War One...

 who was unable to prevent Hull being relegated with only 20 points. As manager, Hill only won 24 out of 77 games, a win rate of 31.16%.

After the Second World War, Hill returned to Hull City where he acted as club scout from 1948 to 1955. He later had a spell at Scarborough
Scarborough F.C.
Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...

, where he was in charge of their pools scheme.

He retired in August 1963 and moved to Scotland where he died in Helensburgh
Helensburgh
Helensburgh is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde and the eastern shore of the entrance to the Gareloch....

 in April 1972.

As a player

Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...

  • Football League Third Division North
    Football League Third Division North
    The Third Division North of The Football League was a tier in the English association football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran parallel to Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to one or the other according to geographical position...

     champions: 1932–33

External links

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