HE was the charismatic man who shaped the beautiful game as we know it.
Football legend Jimmy Hill ignited player power, pioneered all-seater stadiums
and inspired millions of fans as the face — well, the chin — of Match of the
Day for 25 years.
To those who knew him, he was “Gentleman Jim”, a father of five, married three
times and grandfather to more than a dozen.
Yesterday former Fulham star Jimmy lost a heartbreaking, seven-year battle
with Alzheimer’s in a south coast care home. He was 87. His third wife
Bryony, 64, his partner of 35 years, was at his side.
Last night the world of football mourned the loss of one of the game’s most
colourful personalities and influential innovators. A legend in every sense
of the word.
Former Newcastle and England captain Alan Shearer tweeted: “Very sad news
about Jimmy Hill.
“Footballers and football have so much to thank him for. A man who loved the
game.”
‘A forward-thinker and a revolutionary’
Des Lynam, who presented Match of the Day when Jimmy was a pundit, said: “He
was a valued and highly talented colleague with a sharp, incisive mind and
excellent communication skills.
“He was also a true and loyal friend and great fun.
“I have much missed his company in the last few years since he became ill with
Alzheimer’s.”
RIP Jimmy Hill. All round football man.
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5)
Jimmy was born in Balham, South London, in 1928 to World War One veteran
William, a milkman, and Alice, a bread delivery worker.
During his teenage years he worked as a chimney sweep, ironed squaddies’
uniforms for money during National Service and made extra cash by holding
typing classes.
Very sad news about Jimmy Hill. Footballers and football have so much to thank him for. A man who loved the game.
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer)
But football was his main love. His playing career stretched 12 years — first
at Brentford, then Fulham — scoring 51 times in 359 appearances.
Yet it was his foray into the boardroom in 1957, as chairman of the
Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) that propelled him to greatness.
He took the role four years before he hung up his playing boots. As a player
he never earned more than the £20 weekly maximum wage allowed by the rules
at the time. But his tireless work at the PFA saw that salary cap scrapped
in 1961, days before players were set to strike.
As a result, former Fulham team-mate Johnny Haynes became the first
£100-a-week star. The move paved the way for the multi-million-pound deals
today’s Premier League aces earn.
Deeply saddened to hear that Jimmy Hill has left us. A football man through and through who gave the game so much in so many ways
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker)
Jimmy’s revolutionary approach also shone through when he became manager of
Coventry City later that year.
Within weeks he changed the team’s colours to sky blue, earning the club its
nickname to this day. He even penned the club’s song, The Sky Blue Song, and
regularly led supporters in renditions of it.
He organised pre-match entertainment for fans — another first for football —
and was integral in introducing Britain’s first electronic scoreboard.
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Jimmy would drive 54,000 miles a year travelling to matches, scouting players
and attending club functions. Remarkably, he guided Coventry to two
promotions in three years while commissioning the club’s ground, Highfield
Road, to become England’s first all-seater stadium.
Jimmy Hill, RIP a legend
— David James (@jamosfoundation)
The same year he was instrumental in changing the rules to make a win worth
three points rather than the two. This was to make the often dour, defensive
games more exciting.
The change was rolled out internationally at the 1994 World Cup.
Jimmy even came up with the idea of having shirt sponsors.
Speaking about his innovations at Coventry, whose new Ricoh Arena stadium has
a statue of him outside, Jimmy said in 2005: “When you start to put your
mind to things like that, what it’s like to be a supporter and how you can
make it more enjoyable for them, you realise there is not any particular
cost in doing it.” After managing Coventry, he returned as managing director
in 1975 and later as chairman — a role he also held at Fulham between 1987
and 1997.
Fans, players and staff of the two clubs fell silent before their matches
yesterday as a mark of respect, while players wore black armbands.
Coventry’s manager Tony Mowbray said of Jimmy: “He was a forward-thinker and a
revolutionary.
‘Jimmy wore his slippers on Match of the Day’
“The changes he made gave the club, the city and the supporters an identity
and a club they can be proud of, and for that, the club will be eternally
grateful.”
RIP Jimmy Hill.
The face of football for a generation.
— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore)
Jimmy also changed the way the game was watched on television.
He worked as a pundit for ITV at the 1964 FA Cup final, then for the BBC at
the 1966 World Cup. He went on to be part of TV coverage at every World Cup
and European Championships until 1998.
As London Weekend Television’s head of sport, a role he held from 1967 to
1972, he introduced the punditry panel as we know it today for the 1970
World Cup.
Then, in 1973, he landed a job on Match of the Day. The Radio Times described
his appointment as “Catch of the day” on their front page — and so it proved.
Such sad news about Jimmy hill ,did an awful lot for our wonderful game RIP
— Robbie Savage (@RobbieSavage8)
In his 25 years on the show he made more than 600 appearances and helped make
it a national institution. He remains its longest-serving anchor, spending
16 seasons at its helm, and stayed on as a pundit when Lynam replaced him in
1989.
RIP Jimmy Hill.
A great football man.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan)
Speaking last month, his wife Bryony said: “He once wore his slippers during a
Sunday episode of Match of the Day. Nobody could tell but I knew. Once I had
to colour in a yellow Slazenger badge with black ink because they weren’t
allowed to wear logos. It was one of his golfing jumpers.”
Jimmy’s BBC colleague, commentator John Motson, said last night: “There is so
much to say about Jimmy, it never stopped, it was original, revolutionary.”
Jimmy will also be remembered for his quirky nature.
He had been married twice, to ex-wives Gloria and Heather, when he met third
wife Bryony at the age of 49. She was just 25.
They were brought together after she answered an advert in The Times that
read: “BBC TV Sports Personality with a dog seeks super-efficient PA.”
Multi-talented Jimmy, a qualified referee, stepped in as a linesman in a 1972
league match between Arsenal and Liverpool. The game was at risk of being
abandoned after an injury to the original official, but Jimmy, at the match
as a spectator, answered a plea over the Highbury PA system.
He also recorded a charity single with Elton John and commentator Brian Moore
in 1977 and was deemed famous enough to be caricatured on satirical puppet
show Spitting Image in the Eighties.
Jimmy even received a rare apology from Sir Alex Ferguson after the former
Manchester United manager called him “a prat” on live TV in 1994.
Thank you for everything Jimmy, without you none of this would have been possible.
— Coventry City (@Coventry_City)
He wasn’t embarrassed to poke fun at himself either, once posing with
entertainer Bruce Forsyth for pictures jokingly measuring who had the
biggest chin.
Jimmy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2008. For the past three years he was
cared for in a nursing home in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex.
Last night his wife Bryony said she was “puffed up with pride” at the
worldwide response to Jimmy’s passing.
Last month, she heartbreakingly explained: “He won’t know who I am but smiling
and the energy that produces is comforting for him. My role is just to be
there, to comfort him and hopefully make him smile.”
One thing for sure is that Gentleman Jim — the pioneer of modern-day football
— was loved by millions.