Ernest John Guy Hillier (10 April 1907 – 1979) was a Welsh 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 as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. During his career, he made over 70 appearances 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 ...

during spells with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and Newport County.

Career

Born in

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

, Hillier was working as a butcher while playing for local amateur side Bridgend Town when he was offered a trial with

side Swansea Town. He was retained by the club as an amateur for the 1926–27 season but never played for the first team. The following year, he signed for Swansea's local rivals

. After impressing for the club's reserve side, he made his professional debut in a 2–0 victory over Everton in December 1927. He made four further appearances during the season and another four the following season as he acted as understudy to first choice goalkeeper

Tom Farquharson Thomas Gerard Farquharson (4 December 1899 – 24 December 1970) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Dublin, he played youth football for local sides. In his teens, he became a member of the Irish Republica ...

. In January 1930, he was allowed to join

in a triple transfer with teammates

John Jennings John Jennings may refer to: Politicians * John Jenyns (1660–1717), MP * John Jennings (Burton MP) (1903–1990), British Conservative Party politician * John Jennings (American politician) (1880–1956), U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1939 ...

and

Fred Warren Frederick Windsor Warren (23 December 1907 – 1986) was a Welsh professional footballer and Wales international. Club career Warren began his career at his home town club Cardiff City, spending time as understudy to George McLachlan before ...

. As part of the deal, Cardiff agreed to a clause that would see the club receive a further £250 if both Hillier and Jennings played in twenty league matches for Middlesbrough. When both players reached the tally in May 1933, Cardiff issued a request for the money to be paid but received a cheque for just £50. When Cardiff queried the payment, Middlesbrough produced the agreement paper which included only a bonus of £50, an error that was later revealed to have been made by former Cardiff manager Fred Stewart who had mistakenly written the wrong figure. Cardiff appealed to the Football League, but their claim was dismissed. Hillier went on to make 63 league appearances for Middlesbrough before finishing his professional career with Newport County.

Later life

After retiring from football, Hillier retired to the town of

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

where he became a publican. His son

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

was also a professional footballer, playing nine league matches for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

during the 1957–58 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillier, Joe 1907 births 1979 deaths Welsh men's footballers Bridgend Town A.F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Bridgend