William Stewart Hillis (28 September 1943 − 21 July 2014) was a Scottish

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who held a professorship in

cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular h ...

and exercise medicine. He was doctor for the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the thr ...

for 228 full international matches, part of his involvement with football that spanned more than 40 year during his medical career. He was vice-chairman of the

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

medical committee and medical advisor to FIFA.

Early life

William Stewart Hillis was born on 28 September 1943 in Clydebank, but was always known as Stewart. He was the son of a foreman at John Brown's shipyard. He was educated at Linnvale Primary and then

Clydebank High School Clydebank High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Clydebank, Scotland. It is one of three non-denominational secondary schools in West Dunbartonshire. History The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 created for the first time mandatory ...

. He studied medicine at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating in 1967. He married Anne and they had three sons and a daughter.

Academic medicine

Hillis spent a year working at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1977, he was appointed as a consultant cardiologist at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow, then working at the

Western Infirmary The Western Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, that was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It was opened in 1874 and closed in 2015. History After the University of Glasgow moved from the cit ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. Hillis started

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

and Masters courses in Sports Medicine at the University of Glasgow in 1995 and was course director until 2012. In 1997, the University of Glasgow awarded Hillis a personal chair in cardiology and exercise medicine.

Sports medicine

Club football

In 1970 Hillis became the team doctor for Clydebank and remained in this position for 27 years. He had a brief spell as club doctor at

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

but during this period the club signed

Daniel Prodan Daniel Claudiu Prodan (23 March 1972 – 16 November 2016) was a Romanian footballer who played mainly as a central defender. In a career marred by injuries, he played mainly for Steaua București and represented the Romania national team in o ...

in 1998 without some significant medical problems being discovered before the completion of the deal. When the club's owner David Murray rushed the deal for the player through, Hillis hadn't been allowed the normal amount of time to complete his medical checks.

International football

In 1976, he began working with the Scottish Football Association to provide medical support for the

Scotland national under-21 football team The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team. As a European under-21 t ...

and he covered 54 matches. In 1982, he was promoted to cover the Scotland national team doctor. In 1985, at the Wales vs Scotland football match in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, the Scotland team manager

Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...

collapsed and although Hillis and the team attempted resuscitation, Stein died from a heart attack. Hillis helped establish the Sports Medicine Centre inside Hampden Park, the first of its kind in a national stadium. He stepped down as the Scotland team doctor in 2010, but remained involved research and he continued to be involved with the SFA. He became the medical director of the SFA. In 1986, he became a member of UEFA's Medical Committee and he had several stints as vice-chairman of the committee. He was a medical adviser to FIFA.

Commonwealth Games

Hillis had been working with the medical team to prepare for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in May 2014, however he continued to work until the middle of June.

Awards and honours

In 2008, Hillis was awarded the prestigious Sir Robert Atkin prize by the Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine. He was awarded an OBE in the

2010 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2010 were announced on 31 December 2009 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Saint Lucia, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and NevisSaint Christ ...

list for services to medicine and sport. In 2014, the British Association for Sports and Exercise Medicine (BASEM) awarded him the Roger Bannister medal, recognising an outstanding contribution to the field of Sport and Exercise Medicine over his lifetime. In July 2015 a project to look at how best to treat mental health issues encountered by footballers in Scotland was funded by the UEFA Research Grant Programme and was dedicated to Hillis. In October 2015, he was posthumously admitted into the

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...

References

External links

profile
at the

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Hillis, Stewart 1943 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Scottish medical doctors 21st-century Scottish medical doctors Alumni of the University of Glasgow People from Clydebank People educated at Clydebank High School Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees British cardiologists Academics of the University of Glasgow Officers of the Order of the British Empire Clydebank F.C. (1965) non-playing staff