Frank Robert Hill (21 May 1906 – 28 August 1993) was a Scottish

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 ...

player and manager.

Playing career

Forfar and Aberdeen

Hill was born in

Forfar Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280. The town ...

and started his career at

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in . They play their home games at Station Park, in t ...

, joining the club in 1924. He moved to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 1928 and played over 100

Scottish Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...

matches. A

right-half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

(which was more or less the equivalent of a

defensive midfield In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

position), Hill earned the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

"Tiger" for his "tigerish" tackling. During his four years at Aberdeen, he also won three caps for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

(between 1930 and 1931). Hill left Aberdeen under something of a cloud, being one of five players dropped by manager Paddy Travers in November 1931. At the time, the reasons were not clear, but the club's official history claims that several players had been involved in a betting scandal. No players were ever charged with any offence, but none of them ever played for Aberdeen again. Hill had played a total of 106 times for Aberdeen, scoring 10 goals.

Arsenal

In 1932, he was signed by

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English Association football, football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful manage ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, who had just finished as runners-up in both the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. He made his debut against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on 15 October 1932. At the time, Arsenal were spoilt for wing-halves and Hill competed for his place with Charlie Jones,

Bob John Robert Frederick John (3 February 1899 – 17 July 1982) was a Welsh football player and coach. Born in Barry, John played for Barry Town and Caerphilly, before joining English club Arsenal, who signed him, against stiff competition, in Januar ...

Wilf Copping Wilfred Copping (17 August 1909 – June 1980) was an English football player who played for Leeds United, Arsenal and the England national team. Career Leeds United Copping was born in Middlecliffe, Barnsley, Yorkshire, but was rejected by hi ...

and

Jack Crayston William John Crayston (9 October 1910 – 26 December 1992) was an English football player and manager. Playing career Born in Grange-over-Sands, Lancashire, Crayston played for local school sides and Ulverston Town before moving to Third Di ...

. Despite this, Hill featured in all three of Arsenal's

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

League title campaigns. He also won the 1934 Charity Shield with the Gunners. Hill usually played at right-half but also deputised at left-half or even on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

. Hill was squeezed out of the side by Copping and Crayston, and only featured in ten matches in 1935–36, and did not play in Arsenal's FA Cup final victory that season. He requested a transfer and was sold to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in the summer of 1936. In all he played 81 games for Arsenal, scoring four goals.

Blackpool

Hill captained Blackpool in the 1936–37 season, helping them to runners-up spot and thus promotion to the First Division. However, he didn't stay in the top flight for long as in September 1937 he joined Second Division side

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Southampton

In May 1937, Hill was recruited by Tom Parker to join

as part of his drive to strengthen the team in an attempt to gain promotion from the Second Division, along with David Affleck (from

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

), Billy Bevis (from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

) and

Ray Parkin Raymond Edward Parkin (6 November 191019 June 2005) was an Australian naval seaman, writer, draftsman, artist and historian. He is noted for his memoirs of World War II (including his time as a prisoner-of-war), and for a major work on James C ...

(from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

). Southampton paid £2000 for his services and acquired "a half-back with a strong personality and ball-winning abilities". Hill's resolve and leadership helped steer Saints away from relegation during 1937–38, only for him to suffer a series of injuries the following season which sidelined him for long periods. Hill eventually fell out with the Board of Directors when it was revealed that he had secretly applied for various managerial positions and he left the club in 1939 to take up a position as assistant trainer at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

, although Southampton refused to release his player registration until 1943. He made 53 appearances for Southampton, scoring three goals. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when football was suspended, Hill served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Managerial career

Hill returned to Britain in 1944 and became player-manager of

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

(making 20 appearances, excluding Football War League games, and playing his last game for Crewe in February 1948) until he was 42. He went on to manage

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

from September 1948 to 1954 then

from 1954 to 1956. He then moved abroad in January 1957, coaching the Iraqi military team as well as Iraqi club

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya () is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Iraq, Rusafa District, Baghdad that competes in the Iraq Stars League, the top-flight of Football in Iraq, Iraqi football. Founded in 1931, it is the oldest existing club in Iraq. ...

, before returning to take over at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in 1958. He helped County to promotion to the Third Division in 1959–60, and moved to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

, who were bottom of the Second Division, in 1961. He saved Charlton from relegation that season and took them to fourth in 1963–64. However, he could not make the good form last and was sacked in the summer of 1965. Hill finished his career as a scout for

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, before retiring. He moved with his wife Doris and son David to

Lafayette, California Lafayette (formerly La Fayette) is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. As of 2020, the city's population was 25,391. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military officer of the American Revolutionary ...

, USA in 1967 where they owned "Piccadilly Circus Fish'n Chips" and he refereed locally at the college level well into his 70s. He died in California in August 1993, aged 87.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial record

Honours

As a player

;Arsenal *

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 ...

championship: 1932–33, 1933–34 and 1934–35 * Charity Shield:

;Blackpool *

Division 2, runners-up: 1936–37

As a manager

Notts County *

Division 4, runners-up: 1959–60

References

External links

* *
Scotland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Frank 1906 births 1993 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Aberdeen F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Scottish football managers Scottish expatriate football managers Crewe Alexandra F.C. managers Burnley F.C. managers Preston North End F.C. managers Notts County F.C. managers Charlton Athletic F.C. managers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Footballers from Forfar English Football League managers Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League players Men's association football wing halves 20th-century Scottish sportsmen