Jimmy Hill: The Footballer Who Made Modern Football Modern

Jimmy Hill thought English football was stuck in a “feudal time warp”.

He spoke from experience. Born in south London in 1928, Hill joined Brentford at 21 before moving to Fulham. At 32, he was still playing while serving as chairman of the players’ union.

Hill described club chairmen as having spent generations “looking down their noses at players” and treating them as “inferior beings”. For 60 years, footballers had been subject to a maximum wage. In 1961, it stood at £20 a week.

When the authorities refused to abolish the rule, Hill organised a strike. Players voted 694 to 18 in favour. Three days before they were due to walk out, the maximum wage was abolished.

For the first time, a player’s pay could begin to reflect his commercial and cultural value. Hill’s Fulham teammate Johnny Haynes became Britain’s first £100-a-week footballer. Less than three years later, George Best made his Manchester United debut. In 1966, football had its “fifth Beatle”.

Later that year, Hill became manager of Coventry City. He built a distinct Sky Blue brand around “what it’s like to be a supporter and how you can make it more enjoyable for them.”

His changes included:

• a new kit, nickname and club song that established Coventry’s Sky Blue identity
• English football’s first electronic scoreboard
• football’s first glossy match programme
• dedicated trains for away supporters
• an end to a ten-year ban on player interviews, with television cameras welcomed inside the club

Then, in 1965, he went further.

When Coventry played away at Cardiff, Hill showed the match live on four giant screens at Coventry's Highfield Road stadium. 10,295 supporters turned up, only around 2,500 fewer than watched the actual match in Cardiff.

Hill took Coventry from the third tier to the top flight before moving into TV.

During the 1970 World Cup, Hill brought some of football’s biggest names into the studio to analyse and argue. The pundit panel was born. He championed slow-motion replay to examine passages of play rather than simply replay goals. Television could explain football as well as show it.

Hill also wanted to change the game itself. He helped bring substitutes to English football. But another problem still bothered him.

Too many matches were dull. For almost a century, English league teams received two points for a win and one for a draw. That meant two draws were worth exactly the same as a win and a defeat. Why risk losing a point in pursuit of two?

Hill changed the equation.

Make a win worth three points.

Now risk came with a greater reward. Later research found fewer draws, more decisive matches and greater competitive balance. Football became harder to settle for.

English football adopted Hill’s idea in 1981. FIFA introduced it at the 1994 World Cup. Three points for a win spread around the world.

Today, footballers are global stars. Clubs build their identities around supporters. Players speak to cameras. Pundits analyse replays. Every league table rewards a victory with three points.

Jimmy Hill deserves to be remembered for more than his chin.

With thanks to Mick Hume

Further reading

The Jimmy Hill Story: My Autobiography by Jimmy Hill