Ricky Hill
Ricky Hill is an English professional football coach and a former player who is currently the manager of the Turks and Caicos Islands national team.
Hill spent most of his playing career at Luton Town for 14 years, while representing England at Senior, U21 and U18 International levels. He was the fourth Black player to play for England's Senior National team and the first British South Asian to represent England at the Senior level.
Hill began his managerial career as a player-coach with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1992 and in that season saw the Rowdies appear in both the League Championship final and the Professional Cup final, in addition to Hill also being awarded 'Coach of the Year' amongst other notable player accolades such as Best Passer and All-Star First Team. Spanning 25 years managing various professional clubs across the US, UK, and the Caribbean, Hill made 4 US championship appearances at the professional level, reinforcing his standing as one of the most successful Black coaches in the history of US professional soccer.
Most recently, Hill authored Love of the Game – Ricky Hill: The Man Who Brought the Rooney Rule to the UK which was nominated as a finalist for the 2022 Sports Books Awards in association with The Sunday Times.
Early life
Ricky Hill was born on 5 March 1959 of mixed ancestry. While Hill's mother is Jamaican, his father's family is originally from the city of Lucknow in India. His paternal great-grandparents moved to Jamaica from India shortly after the turn of the 20th century. Hill's father Joseph, one of 11 children, eventually moved to London where he married Hill's mother Doris, a Jamaican whom Joseph had previously attended school alongside in Jamaica.Hill grew up in the London Borough of Brent, in Cricklewood - not far from Wembley Stadium. A talented footballer in his early years, Hill attended Anson Road Primary and John Kelly Boys School in Neasden. Whilst at John Kelly, Hill was a teammate of former Arsenal and Brighton Hove Albion player Steve Gatting.
At 15, Hill signed schoolboy forms with Luton Town in 1974 after being scouted playing for John Kelly Boys at a game in Hitchin where Luton coaches Roy McCrohan, David Pleat, and Danny Bergara were in attendance.
Club career
Luton Town
Ricky Hill joined Luton Town in 1975, and made 506 league and cup appearances, scoring 54 goals in the process. At 17, one month after signing professional terms, Hill came on as a substitute in a Second Division game where he scored a goal and made a goal assist in twenty-two minutes in a 3–1 victory over Bristol Rovers.Hill spent 14 years at Luton and played a pivotal role in the club's promotion to the First Division in 1981–82 as Second Division champions, where he won back-to-back 'Player of the Year' awards. Hill was a part of the 1988 League Cup final-winning team that won their first – and only to date – major trophy as they beat Arsenal 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in front of 98,000 fans. They returned to the final again in 1989, only this time to experience defeat to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, 3–1.
Le Havre
In 1989, Hill moved on a free transfer to Le Havre in the French Division 2, where he was recommended to the club by Gerard Houllier. Whilst at Le Havre, Hill played under head coach Pierre Mankowski who went on to become assistant manager to Raymond Domenech with the France national team. Hill credits his time at Le Havre for providing him advanced insight into sports science and youth development of which the club is renowned for.Leicester City
In 1990, Hill transferred to Leicester City, rejoining David Pleat for a brief spell who had been his manager at Luton Town previously.Tampa Bay Rowdies
In 1991, Hill moved abroad to be player-coach with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the US.Chertsey Town
In 1993, Hill played for Chertsey Town with former professionals including Kenny Sansom, Francis Joseph and Terry Rowe.Cocoa Expos
In 1994, Hill moved back to the US to be the technical director and player-coach with the Cocoa Expos.International career
Hill represented England at U18, U21, and Senior International levels, making his debut under Sir Bobby Robson, coming on as a substitute in the 1982 European Championship qualifier against Denmark in Copenhagen which resulted in a 2-2 draw. The following month Hill made his full starting debut against West Germany at Wembley in a 1-2 defeat. Hill missed out on the 1983 Australia tour due to an injury that required surgery. While being selected to the provisional 26-man squad for the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico, Hill was placed on standby after the squad was reduced to a 22-man traveling party.Hill was the fourth Black player to play for England's senior National team and the first British South Asian to represent England at the senior level. He was capped three times in total for England, with his last appearance being against Egypt on 29 January 1986.
Coaching career
Tampa Bay Rowdies
In 1992, Hill was introduced to Rodney Marsh, then CEO of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who were part of the American Professional Soccer League, the only professional soccer league in the US at the time. The Tampa Bay Rowdies afforded Hill's first opportunity in coaching where Marsh appointed Hill as Player/Coach six weeks after Hill's arrival in the US. That season saw the Rowdies appear in both the League Championship final and the Professional Cup final, in addition to Hill also being awarded 'Coach of the Year' amongst other notable player accolades such as Best Passer, All-Star First Team, Second Best Technical Player as voted by press correspondents.Cocoa Expos
Hill returned to the UK briefly before once again heading back to the US in 1994 as the Technical Director/Player Coach of the Cocoa Expos organization in the United States Interregional Soccer League and as an Assistant Coach at the Florida Institute of Technology from 1994 to 1996. During his time with the Cocoa Expos, the franchise won the Southern Regional title before losing to the Richmond Kickers in the USISL Championship finals. For the 1995 season, the Cocoa Expos held esteemed records of scoring the most goals and conceding the least goals across all USISL professional teams.Sheffield Wednesday
was now managing Premiership club Sheffield Wednesday and headhunted Hill with an offer to join their organization. Despite having experienced another successful period in the USA, Hill took up the post in 1996 with the remit of coaching Sheffield Wednesdays' young apprentices, preparing them for their next steps towards becoming professional players. Hill and Charlie Williamson had great success in the elevation of 16 out of 18 players being granted professional contracts over a two-year period. Players from that cohort who went on to have lengthy professional careers include Steven Haslam, Leigh Bromby, Alan Quinn, Derek Geary, Kevin Nicholson, Peter Holmes, and Junior Agogo. In 1999 the U19 side finished runner-up in the Premiership Academy Cup, losing 1-0 after extra time to the West Ham FA Youth Cup winning side that included future England internationals Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, and a host of future premiership and league players.Whilst at Sheffield Wednesday, Hill collaborated in 1998 with the American MLS Project-40 program, an elite National soccer development program for young MLS players; Project-40 players such as Ubsusuko Abukusumo and Judah Crooks were then invited back to Sheffield Wednesday for an extensive training period under Hill. Project-40 raised Hill's visibility to DC United where he was downselected as one of two finalist candidates for the DC United Head Coaching position, a role to be vacated by Bruce Arena who was moving on to become the USA National Team Head Coach.