Ronald William Hillyard (born 31 March 1952) is an English former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He spent seventeen years playing for Gillingham, for whom he holds the record for the most matches played in all competitions.

Career

Born in Brinsworth, Hillyard was a schoolboy inside forward before being put in goal as a punishment. He joined

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

as an amateur until the training nights were discontinued. He then played for Brinsworth Athletic in the Sheffield Amateur League before being recommended to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

where he spent a season as fourth-choice keeper before being recommended to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

by Bobby Sibbald. Joining as a junior, Hillyard was thrust into the first-team in October 1969, when the club was facing a goalkeeping crisis. Loan spells at

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

, Bury and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

followed where on his first meeting with

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

was told to get his hair cut. Although he made 61

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

appearances for

over the next five years, he was unable to establish himself as a first-team regular. Finally in 1974, Gillingham manager

Len Ashurst Leonard Ashurst (10 March 1939 – 25 September 2021) was an English football player, manager and administrator. He spent most of his playing career with Sunderland, making 458 appearances, the second most in the club's history. He retired at ...

, who had been attempting to sign the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

man for his former club

for three years, was able to secure his transfer to his new club. For almost the entirety of the next seventeen years, Hillyard was the

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

club's first-choice goalkeeper, until a back injury forced him to retire in 1991. Two years earlier he had been appointed assistant manager by Damien Richardson, a post he continued to hold until 1992 when both he and Richardson were sacked. On 15 May 1983, Hillyard enjoyed a testimonial game when Gillingham beat

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

3–2 at

Priestfield Stadium Priestfield Stadium (popularly known simply as Priestfield and officially known from 2007 to 2010 as KRBS Priestfield Stadium and from 2011 to 2023 and again from 2024 as MEMS Priestfield Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium i ...

. Hillyard was expected to break John Simpson's record for the most league appearances for Gillingham but ultimately his career ended 8 matches short of Simpson's tally of 571. Nonetheless, Hillyard set a new record for appearances for the club in all competitions with a total of 657, during which he kept 202 clean sheets. Hillyard was appointed goalkeeping coach of

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1946 from the merger ...

in 2002 and remained with the club until 2016. He also held a dual-role position of goalkeeping coach with Gillingham during the 2011–12 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillyard, Ron 1952 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers York City F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players English Football League players Gillingham F.C. non-playing staff Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham Footballers from South Yorkshire