Jimmy Hill, former Match of the Day presenter, has died

kettlehead

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35141430

Very sad, just before Christmas. RIP Chinny!

Wibbs

Alzheimer's? A near guaranteed blessed release for all concerned. RIP.

Banjo String

RIP Jimmy Chin.

The Backwards Man

Was just reading an interview with his wife a few weeks ago, diagnosed in 2007 so was thinking he'd be near the end.

RIP

Menas

Most younger people wont know him but he really was a legend in football.
Players rights were minimal before him. Club owners and managers could pretty much do as they wished.
Got the minimum wage banned.
3 points for a win.

He was a bit annoying on Match of the day and Grandstand but I did like his sunday morning show on sky.

RIP Jimmy - another institution bites the dust.

donegaLroad

some television personalities seem immortal, to me Jimmy Hill was one of them. Bruce Forsythe is another, and Gay Byrne coming to think of it.. David Attenburough is still going strong.

murpho999

donegaLroad wrote: »

some television personalities seem immortal, to me Jimmy Hill was one of them. Bruce Forsythe is another, and Gay Byrne coming to think of it.. David Attenburough is still going strong.

How can you say that when he died today?

donegaLroad

murpho999 wrote: »

How can you say that when he died today?

you just never imagine these people dead, for some reason. Thats what I was trying to say...

Sir Osis of Liver.

RIP Jimmy.

He's due to be buried in the family plot on Easter Island.

cml387

From The Guardian's excellent Joy Of Six series, this one "Great Relegation Battles".


How many syllables does it take to make a Sunderland fan turn puce? Three. Ji-mmy Hill. He was the central figure in the most controversial of Coventry's myriad great escapes during their 34 years in the top flight. The final relegation games of the 1976-77 season had been rescheduled to a Thursday night because of a fixture pile-up. Sunderland were at Everton, with Coventry hosting Bristol City. All three were level on points, but Coventry had the worst goal difference. Bristol City were safe with a draw, as were Sunderland, although they could afford to lose provided the other game didn't end in a draw. Coventry needed a win to be certain of survival. It was such a big night that one Bristol judge adjourned his court early so that jurors could catch a coach to the game.

Sunderland, newly promoted, were on a quite staggering run of form. They had been well adrift in mid January after taking only nine points from the first 23 games, but over the next four months they were top of the form table: P16 W9 D7 L2 F33 A16. That included 6-0 and 6-1 wins in consecutive home games.

The controversy began when Coventry's kick-off was delayed by over 10 minutes, officially because of crowd congestion. It's generally perceived that this was the doing of Hill, the club's managing director. It meant that Sunderland's game would finish well before the match at Highfield Road. They lost 2-0, a little unluckily; news of that reached Coventry around the time Bristol City completed a comeback from 2-0 down, when Don Gillies made it 2-2 with 12 minutes to go. It was then that, according to the following day's Daily Mirror, Hill "raced to the announcer's box with the result, screaming 'Get it on the board'".

The Sunderland score flashed up, and for the last five minutes Bristol City passed the ball between defenders and goalkeeper with not a single challenge from Coventry. In this paper, David Lacey said that "what had been an intensely physical contest dissolved farcically". Hill was reprimanded by the FA, and is still abhorred by many Sunderland fans. When they bombarded him with sour somethings during a Fulham game in 2008, he waved in response and had to be ushered away by police for his own safety.

breffni bogballer

Never heard that one before,he was some man,that was a few years b4 the W Germany/Austria non event. mind u the ROI v HOLLAND game was similar in 1990 WC

Fleawuss

That tune just sticks in your head