John Thomas Hill (1908 – after 1937) was an English

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 as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

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 Newport County and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, and in

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for

Esh Winning Esh Winning is a village, and location of a former colliery, in County Durham, England. It is situated in the River Deerness, Deerness Valley to the west of Durham, England, Durham. The village was founded by the Pease family in the 1850s to serv ...

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne ...

West Stanley South Moor is a village in County Durham, in England. It is located to the south-west of Stanley on the northern slope of the Craghead valley. It is a well-developed village, yet still semi-rural, containing a main street (Park Road) of around ...

Spennymoor United Spennymoor United Association Football Club was an association football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, England. History Spennymoor United Association Football Club was formed in 1904 as an amalgamation of Spennymoor Town and Weardale ...

, and

Horden Colliery Welfare Horden Community Welfare Football Club, usually abbreviated to Horden CW is a football club based in Horden, County Durham, England. The club was formed as Horden Colliery Welfare in 1908 and joined the North Eastern League in 1935, reaching th ...

Life and career

At the time of the 1911 Census, the three-year-old Hill was the youngest of eight surviving children of William Hill, a coal miner, and his wife Ann. He was born in the

Monkwearmouth Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in North East England. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bisho ...

area of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, which was then in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

.
He played football for

and

before signing for

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 Newport County in 1928. He played only twice in Third Division matches, but scored more than 40 goals for the club's other teams. He returned to the north-east of England at the end of the 1928–29 season and signed for

. On the same day, Darlington signed Peterborough & Fletton United's

Maurice Wellock Maurice Wellock (15 June 1902 – 1967) was an English professional footballer who scored 111 goals from 278 appearances in the Football League. Life and career Wellock was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, where he attended Drummond Road School. I ...

, whose goal record, of 71 goals from 104 league matches over three seasons, illustrates why he was preferred to Hill at centre-forward. Hill played infrequently, either in the absence of Wellock or with Wellock alongside him at

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, and scored 14 goals from 22 league appearances over two seasons, which included two

hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. The first was against

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

in an 8–3 victory, and the second came in the first half of a 5–2 defeat of

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

, though the ''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'' reported that the first of the three goals failed to cross the line and the third was offside. As he had been with Newport, he was prolific at reserve-team level, but at the end of the 1930–31 season, he was given a free transfer, and he signed for

North-Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

club

. After a season with West Stanley, Hill, "a very good centre forward and a strong shot", joined

, with whom he was to spend the next five years, apart from a brief foray to

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

at the start of the 1934–35 season. In 1937,

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

gave permission for the club to arrange a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

in appreciation of his services. "One of the most prolific scorers in the North Eastern League during the past five seasons" – he scored more than 200 goals for Spennymoor, including 54 in 1936–37 – he signed for

for 1937–38 and was expected to "get a 'bagful' of goals".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Jack 1908 births Year of death missing Footballers from Sunderland English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Esh Winning F.C. players Jarrow F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Darlington F.C. players West Stanley F.C. players Spennymoor United A.F.C. players Ramsgate F.C. players Darlington Town F.C. players English Football League players