Jack Hillman
Encyclopedia
Jack Hillman was an English football
goalkeeper who played for Burnley
, Everton
, Dundee
, Manchester City
and Millwall
.
that he made his reputation. In 1890 Hillman was playing for the Young Pilgrims, a junior side affiliated with Plymouth Argyle
. An impressive performance against Burnley
reserves prompted the Football League club to sign him, and he made his first team debut in 1891. He played for the club for the majority of the next decade, aside from two years at Everton
, and a brief spell at Dundee
.
Hillman was known throughout his career as "Happy Jack" and spent four years at Turf Moor
before being sold to Everton for £150 in February 1895. He was unable to settle at Goodison Park
and in June 1886 he moved on to Dundee. His time at Dundee was not a great success, and midway through the 1897–98 season he was suspended by the club for "not trying", although at the time the club was bankrupt and unable to pay Hillman's wages. He returned to Burnley in March 1898, for a fee of £725.
On 18 February 1899, Hillman made his only international appearance against Ireland. The match was played at Roker Park
, Sunderland
's new ground and ended in a 13–2 victory for England, with four goals from Gilbert Smith
and three from Jimmy Settle
. The scoreline in this match is the record number of goals scored by England in a single match, and also the highest aggregate goals (15) in a game involving England.
In the 1898–99 season Burnley were struggling to avoid relegation
from the First Division
. Going into their final match of the season, against Nottingham Forest
, Burnley needed to win to stand a chance of survival. Hillman attempted to bribe the Forest players, offering them £2 each to "take it easy". At half-time he increased his offer to £5, but Burnley lost 4–0 and were relegated. After the game, the Forest secretary wrote to the F.A.
to complain about Hillman's activities. Hillman was summoned to a joint F.A.-Football League commission in Manchester. Hillman's defence was that the whole thing had been a joke, apparently inspired by suspicions around Forest's 8–0 defeat against West Bromwich Albion
a few weeks previously. Hillman claimed that he was only asking for a similar favour. The Football Association were not convinced by Hillman's explanation and banned him for a season for his actions. The incident is the earliest recorded case of match fixing
in the sport. Once his ban had expired, he returned to the Burnley team.
In January 1902 Hillman was transferred to Manchester City. He made his Manchester City debut on 1 February 1902 in a First Division match against Notts County
at Hyde Road
. He subsequently played in all 13 remaining league fixtures that season, but was unable to prevent City being relegated at the end of the season. City only spent one season in the Second Division and were promoted as champions in 1903, going on to take second place in the First Division in 1904. Hillman was also part of the Manchester City team which won the FA Cup
in 1904
, the club's first major trophy, remaining as first choice keeper until 1906.
During the 1905–06 season he was supplanted as first choice goalkeeper by John Edmondson. In the 1906 close season the Football Association investigated Manchester City's accounts for bonuses, which though commonplace among leading football clubs, were not permitted under FA rules. The FA chose to make an example of City, and Hillman was one of seventeen players suspended until 1 January 1907, and banned from representing the club again. Hillman was also fined £50. The ban on playing for Manchester City was rescinded in 1908, but Hillman never played for the club again.
He joined Millwall Athletic in January 1907, although his playing career soon came to an end with an elbow injury.
When he retired as a footballer he returned to live in Burnley and became a confectioner although, after the First World War, he returned to Turf Moor as a trainer for a year.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
goalkeeper who played for Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
, Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, Dundee
Dundee F.C.
Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, are a football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their shirt colour is dark blue. Dundee currently play in the Scottish First Division, having been relegated from...
, Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
.
Career
Jack Hillman was born in Tavistock, Devon, but it was in LancashireLancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
that he made his reputation. In 1890 Hillman was playing for the Young Pilgrims, a junior side affiliated with Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
. An impressive performance against Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
reserves prompted the Football League club to sign him, and he made his first team debut in 1891. He played for the club for the majority of the next decade, aside from two years at Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, and a brief spell at Dundee
Dundee F.C.
Dundee Football Club, founded in 1893, are a football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their shirt colour is dark blue. Dundee currently play in the Scottish First Division, having been relegated from...
.
Hillman was known throughout his career as "Happy Jack" and spent four years at Turf Moor
Turf Moor
Turf Moor is a football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire. It is the home ground of Burnley Football Club, which has played there since moving from its Calder Vale ground in 1883. The stadium, which is situated on Harry Potts Way, named so after the club's longest serving Manager, has a capacity of...
before being sold to Everton for £150 in February 1895. He was unable to settle at Goodison Park
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium located in Walton, Liverpool, England. The stadium has been home to Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892 and is one of the world's first purpose-built football grounds...
and in June 1886 he moved on to Dundee. His time at Dundee was not a great success, and midway through the 1897–98 season he was suspended by the club for "not trying", although at the time the club was bankrupt and unable to pay Hillman's wages. He returned to Burnley in March 1898, for a fee of £725.
On 18 February 1899, Hillman made his only international appearance against Ireland. The match was played at Roker Park
Roker Park
Roker Park was an English football stadium situated in Roker, Sunderland. The stadium was the home of the English football club Sunderland A.F.C. from 1897 to 1997 before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Near the end of the stadium's history, its capacity was around 22,500 with only a small...
, Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
's new ground and ended in a 13–2 victory for England, with four goals from Gilbert Smith
G.O. Smith
Gilbert Oswald Smith , familiarly known as G. O. Smith or simply as G...
and three from Jimmy Settle
Jimmy Settle
Jimmy Settle was an English professional footballer. A fast-paced inside or outside right, he could have chosen sprinting if he had not taken up football.Settle played for Bolton and Bury before joining Everton in 1899, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1906...
. The scoreline in this match is the record number of goals scored by England in a single match, and also the highest aggregate goals (15) in a game involving England.
In the 1898–99 season Burnley were struggling to avoid relegation
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...
from the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
. Going into their final match of the season, against Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
, Burnley needed to win to stand a chance of survival. Hillman attempted to bribe the Forest players, offering them £2 each to "take it easy". At half-time he increased his offer to £5, but Burnley lost 4–0 and were relegated. After the game, the Forest secretary wrote to the F.A.
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
to complain about Hillman's activities. Hillman was summoned to a joint F.A.-Football League commission in Manchester. Hillman's defence was that the whole thing had been a joke, apparently inspired by suspicions around Forest's 8–0 defeat against West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
a few weeks previously. Hillman claimed that he was only asking for a similar favour. The Football Association were not convinced by Hillman's explanation and banned him for a season for his actions. The incident is the earliest recorded case of match fixing
Match fixing
In organised sports, match fixing, game fixing, race fixing, or sports fixing occurs as a match is played to a completely or partially pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. Where the sporting competition in question is a race then the incident is referred to as...
in the sport. Once his ban had expired, he returned to the Burnley team.
In January 1902 Hillman was transferred to Manchester City. He made his Manchester City debut on 1 February 1902 in a First Division match against Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
at Hyde Road
Hyde Road
Hyde Road was a football stadium in Ardwick, Manchester, England. It was home to Manchester City F.C. and their predecessors from its construction in 1887 until 1923, when the club moved to Maine Road. It was named after Hyde Road, a road which begins at the east end of Ardwick Green South in...
. He subsequently played in all 13 remaining league fixtures that season, but was unable to prevent City being relegated at the end of the season. City only spent one season in the Second Division and were promoted as champions in 1903, going on to take second place in the First Division in 1904. Hillman was also part of the Manchester City team which won the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
in 1904
1904 FA Cup Final
The 1904 FA Cup Final was a football match between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City on 23 April 1904 at Crystal Palace in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup , it was the 32nd Cup final, and the tenth at Crystal...
, the club's first major trophy, remaining as first choice keeper until 1906.
During the 1905–06 season he was supplanted as first choice goalkeeper by John Edmondson. In the 1906 close season the Football Association investigated Manchester City's accounts for bonuses, which though commonplace among leading football clubs, were not permitted under FA rules. The FA chose to make an example of City, and Hillman was one of seventeen players suspended until 1 January 1907, and banned from representing the club again. Hillman was also fined £50. The ban on playing for Manchester City was rescinded in 1908, but Hillman never played for the club again.
He joined Millwall Athletic in January 1907, although his playing career soon came to an end with an elbow injury.
When he retired as a footballer he returned to live in Burnley and became a confectioner although, after the First World War, he returned to Turf Moor as a trainer for a year.
Honours
Manchester CityManchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
winner: 19041904 FA Cup FinalThe 1904 FA Cup Final was a football match between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City on 23 April 1904 at Crystal Palace in London. The showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup , it was the 32nd Cup final, and the tenth at Crystal... - Football League Division Two champions: 1902–03
- Football League Division One runners-up: 1903–04