Dennis Hill (born 16 August 1929) is an English former 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 le ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Playing career

Hill was born in Willenhall,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. He joined Birmingham City in June 1951, and made his debut in the

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 ...

on 13 February 1954, deputising for regular outside left

Alex Govan Alexander Govan (16 June 1929 – 10 June 2016) was a Scottish professional footballer who played at outside left. Most of his career was spent with Plymouth Argyle (in two spells) and with Birmingham City during their most successful peri ...

in a home game against West Ham United which Birmingham won 2–0. Hill played only three more games over the next three years, as Govan's goalscoring ability kept him out of first-team consideration, and in February 1957 he decided to pursue a career as a

draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...

while playing part-time football, first with Burton Albion and then with Matlock Town. He scored seven goals from 38 appearances for Matlock in the 1959–60 season, when the team won the championship of the Central Alliance Division North and reached the first round proper of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for the first time in the club's history.

References

1929 births Living people People from Willenhall English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Darlaston Town F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Matlock Town F.C. players English Football League players {{England-footy-forward-1920s-stub