Brian Hill (born 29 April 1947)) is an English former football

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

in the English

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and at FIFA level. For most of his career, he was based in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, initially

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River ...

, then

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of ...

, finally moving to the Leicestershire town of

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in ...

. Outside football he worked as an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certi ...

Career

He became a Football League linesman in 1975 and two years later joined the Supplementary List of referees, in its last year of operation. He successfully progressed to the full Referees List for the following season at the age of thirty one. He established himself over the next few years with frequent matches at the top level. In 1985, he was elevated to the FIFA Panel while still in his late thirties. The following season saw his most prominent match to date as Everton defeated

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

. In 1988 came his greatest honour as he took charge of the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

between Wimbledon and

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

.FA Cup Final, 1988
, Wimbledon v. Liverpool:

soccerbase ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 6 ...

.com website. Liverpool were expected to win easily and achieve the double but instead 7th place Wimbledon pulled off an upset in a memorable Final. He disallowed a Peter Beardsley goal giving Liverpool a freekick instead. They won 1-0 and

Dave Beasant David John Beasant (; born 20 March 1959) is an English football coach and former football goalkeeper. As a player, he was a goalkeeper, who notably played top-flight football for Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Southampton and Nottingh ...

saved a

John Aldridge John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former football player and manager. He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool in the late 1980s. His tally of 330 Football League goals is ...

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalt ...

that would have brought Liverpool back to parity. This was the first time that a penalty had not been converted in an

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

. Over the next few seasons Hill refereed many matches in the top division. He was chosen for the new

and indeed handled a match on its very first day as

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

beat

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

(the eventual champions) 2–1. However, this season was not without its problems. He did not receive any appointments in the Premier League in the opening months of the 1993–94 campaign - unusual for such an experienced official, who was still on the FIFA List. He served at international level until the end of 1994. FIFA had reduced its retirement age to forty five but there was a period of grace before the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

, in which older officials could be retained, and the FA gave him one extra year. His departure from the FIFA List coincided with a resurgence in his domestic career. On 3 January 1994 he took charge of the

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

versus

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

Premier League match, and thereafter was a regular again at this level. On 19 March he handled Swindon again, this time in a home draw with champions Manchester United which saw

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

sent off. In 1994–95 the Premier List was reduced considerably, but he retained his place, and all his subsequent League games were in the Premier League. In 1995 the Leagues decided to end the practice of granting age extensions to those reaching forty-eight, and he therefore ended his career at the standard age. His last match was the 3–3 draw between Everton and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpo ...

on 3 May 1995.

References

Print

*Football League Handbooks, 1975–1977 *Rothmans Football Yearbooks, 1978-1995 (^†1988 edition, p29) *Gilbert Upton (2005) Football League and Premiership Referees 1888 to 2005, Soccerdata

Internet

External links

Brian Hill Referee Statistics
at

.com (1992-93 only) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Brian 1947 births English football referees FA Cup Final referees People from Market Harborough Sportspeople from Leicestershire People from Wellingborough Living people English Football League referees Premier League referees