Leonard George Hill (15 February 1899 – 1979) 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 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 ...

for various clubs in the 1920s, spending the largest part of his career with

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

in the

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

Football career

Hill was born in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

and after seeing military service in the First World War, he joined

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

as an amateur in 1919. He moved to

in August 1920 and remained at the

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

club for five years, in which he made 176 appearances of which 162 were in

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

matches, either in the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

or the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. In June 1925, he joined

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 ...

of 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 ...

as understudy to Tommy Allen. Hill played in goal for the first four matches of the 1925–26 season, all of which ended in defeats, with 11 goals conceded. At this time, the club had no manager, and the directors decided to replace Hill with Harry Yeomans. Southampton were drawn against First Division

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the third round of the FA Cup in January 1926. In the first match, at The Dell, Allen was in goal when he collided with his teammate

Michael Keeping Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping (22 August 1902 – 28 March 1984) was an English association football, footballer and coach (sport), manager. He coached Real Madrid CF from January 1948 to October 1950. His father was the Olympic medal winning c ...

and had to leave the pitch with bruised ribs.

Arthur Bradford Arthur Houston Bradford (born November 19, 1969) is an American writer and filmmaker. He has published two books of short stories, ''Dogwalker'' (2001) and ''Turtleface and Beyond'' (2015), and a children's book, ''Benny's Brigade'' (2012). He h ...

took over in goal for the remainder of the match, which ended goalless. For the replay, Allen was replaced by Hill who was unable to prevent Liverpool winning 1–0. Hill kept his place until Allen returned to the team at the end of February, and was not selected again. In the summer of 1926, Hill left The Dell and dropped back down to the Third Division in search of regular first-team football with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. A year later, he was on the move again to Lincoln City, where he spent two seasons before winding down his career with

Grays Thurrock Grays or Greys may refer to: Places * Grays Bay, Nunavut, Canada * Grays, Essex, a town in Essex, England ** Grays railway station ** Grays School * Grays, Kent, a hamlet in Kent, England * Rotherfield Greys or Greys, a village in Oxfordshire, En ...

in the Southern League Eastern Division.

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Len 1899 births 1979 deaths Footballers from Islington (district) English footballers Association football goalkeepers Southend United F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Grays Thurrock United F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Military personnel from London British military personnel of World War I