Robert Hill (3 July 1867 – 3 October 1938) was a Scottish

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 le ...

who played primarily as a centre or inside forward. Born in

Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) 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 has a p ...

, Scotland, Hill began his football career when he was a soldier and was spotted playing for his regimental team,

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

. After a brief spell at

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

, it was Irish League rivals Linfield who bought him out of his army contract and took him on as a player. Hill spent three successful seasons with the

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

club, winning two

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

and two League Champions medals with them. On February 1893, Hill arrived at

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 at ...

, scoring on his debut as a trialist and prompting United to sign him permanently. He soon established himself in United's first team and played in the 1893 test–match victory that saw them promoted to the First Division. Hill was a regular in the side for the following two seasons and despite starting the 1895–96 season as a first-choice striker, he was surprisingly transferred to

Ardwick Ardwick is a district of Manchester in North West England, one mile south east of the city centre. The population of the Ardwick Ward at the 2011 census was 19,250. Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown from ...

in November 1895 along with Joe Davies and Hugh Morris. After two years at Ardwick, Hill spent a brief period with Watford St. Marys in 1898, before joining

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

(1898–99) and then Brighton United (1899–1900). Then, Hill returned to his native Scotland to play for

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and finished his career with his home town club

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 Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

Honours

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

**Runner-up: 1892–93

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Bob 1867 births 1938 deaths Sportspeople from Forfar Black Watch soldiers Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards NIFL Premiership players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Glentoran F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Brighton United F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Footballers from Angus, Scotland