Ernest John Guy Hillier (10 April 1907 – 1979) was a Welsh professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

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 ...

. During his career, he made over 70 appearances in the

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 ...

during spells with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

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 ...

and Newport County.

Career

Born in

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, Hillier was working as a butcher while playing for local amateur side Bridgend Town when he was offered a trial with

side Swansea Town. He was retained by the club as an amateur for the 1926–27 season but never played for the first team. The following year, he signed for Swansea's local rivals

. After impressing for the club's reserve side, he made his professional debut in a 2–0 victory over Everton in December 1927. He made four further appearances during the season and another four the following season as he acted as understudy to first choice goalkeeper

Tom Farquharson Thomas Gerard Farquharson (4 December 1899 – 24 December 1970) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Dublin, he played youth football for local sides. In his teens, he became a member of the Irish Republica ...

. In January 1930, he was allowed to join

in a triple transfer with teammates John Jennings and Fred Warren. As part of the deal, Cardiff agreed to a clause that would see the club receive a further £250 if both Hillier and Jennings played in twenty league matches for Middlesbrough. When both players reached the tally in May 1933, Cardiff issued a request for the money to be paid but received a cheque for just £50. When Cardiff queried the payment, Middlesbrough produced the agreement paper which included only a bonus of £50, an error that was later revealed to have been made by former Cardiff manager Fred Stewart who had mistakenly written the wrong figure. Cardiff appealed to the Football League, but their claim was dismissed. Hillier went on to make 63 league appearances for Middlesbrough before finishing his professional career with Newport County.

Later life

After retiring from football, Hillier retired to the town of

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

where he became a publican. His son

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

was also a professional footballer, playing nine league matches for

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, ...

during the 1957–58 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillier, Joe 1907 births 1979 deaths Welsh men's footballers Bridgend Town A.F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Bridgend