Gordon Hill

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Gordon Hill, (often called Gordon Alec Hill to distinguish him from a similarly-named referee) born Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, April 1, 1954, was an English football player. He was a goalscoring winger who formed an effective wing partnership with Steve Coppell at Manchester United in his heyday.

Hill started his career with Millwall. Known to The Lions fans as Merlin, Hill had outstanding skill that earned him International recognition. The Millwall youngster entertained the fans with some incredible shooting and dribbling and it was not long before scouts from the big clubs noticed him. After playing the summer with North American Soccer League's Chicago Sting on loan, and being named an NASL all-star, Hill subsequently signed for Manchester United in November 1975 for £70,000, a massive bargain for manager Tommy Docherty.

Hill played 100 overall games for Millwall, scoring 22 goals. He helped United to the 1976 FA Cup Final, scoring both goals with typical long-range efforts in the semi-final at Hillsborough against Derby County. He was also part of the winning team in the 1977 FA Cup. Hill left United for Derby County in 1978 after scoring 51 goals for United. He retired from the English game after playing for Q.P.R., returning to play in the NASL with the Montreal Manic in 1981 and part of '82 and the Chicago Sting for the remainder of 1982. Hill played in the semi-pro Canadian Professional Soccer League in 1983.

Hill has since briefly managed Chester City during the Terry Smith period, and had a disastrous spell managing Hyde United. In the summer of 1991, he was head coach of the Nova Scotia Clippers in the team's only year in the Canadian Soccer League. He is currently manager of United FC, a youth soccer club in McKinney, Texas.

During his career, Hill played at every stage for England: as an amateur, youth, under 23, England B and full International, with 6 full caps.