Douglas Alfred Hillard (10 August 1935 – 1997) was an English 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 over 300 games in an eleven-year period for Bristol Rovers, his only

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 ...

club.

Footballing career

Prior to joining the ''Pirates'' Hillard had played as an amateur for Maywood, for whom he once scored eight goals in a 15–0 victory over Lockleaze Rovers Juniors in 1952, and Bristol Mental Hospital. Hillard joined Bristol Rovers in 1957, and enjoyed a long career with them, spending a total of eleven years at the club. His 318 league appearances put him 19th on the list of Rovers players with the most appearances, and he is one of only twenty men to have played over 300 games for them. After leaving Bristol Rovers in 1968 Hillard joined Taunton Town as player-manager and found immediate success with the Somerset club, winning the team's first ever Western League title in his first year in charge. He remained in charge of Taunton for five seasons before being appointed manager of

Mangotsfield United Mangotsfield United Football Club is a football club based in Mangotsfield, Bristol, England. They are currently members of the and play at Cossham Street. History The club was formed in 1951 after Mangotsfield Football Club closed down its r ...

in 1973, a position he held for many years.

Personal life

Hillard was born in Bristol in 1935 and was the son of Douglas E. Hillard, who was a painter and decorator, and Doris Amy Bamford. He had a younger brother, John, who was eight years his junior. Before retiring from playing football Hillard opened a shop selling sporting goods, ''Doug Hillard Sports'', which was originally located on

Stapleton Road Stapleton Road is a major thoroughfare in the English city of Bristol, running through the districts of Lawrence Hill and Easton. It is known for being very culturally diverse with many esoteric shops. However since the mid 20th century it ha ...

, near Rovers' Eastville Stadium, but later moved to the Fishponds area of Bristol. The shop is managed by Doug's son Gary Hillard. Doug died in January 1997 and was survived by his wife Janet and son Gary. In September 2014 he was posthumously awarded the

Harry Bamford Henry Charles Bamford (8 February 1920 – 31 October 1958) was a professional footballer, who played for Bristol Rovers for his entire professional career. A local man, born and raised in St. Philip's Marsh, he played chiefly as a right-b ...

trophy, which is presented to Bristol sportsmen to recognise sportsmanship and fair play.

References

External links

Doug Hillard Sports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillard, Doug 1935 births 1997 deaths Footballers from Bristol English men's footballers Bristol Rovers F.C. players Taunton Town F.C. players Taunton Town F.C. managers Mangotsfield United F.C. managers English Football League players Men's association football fullbacks English football managers