Jimmy Hill was the first of the 'personality' Chairmen, a player whose bristling beard brought him press notoriety as the 'bold buccaneer', the 'beatnik with a ball' etc. Hill never minded, however. He understood that publicity was a good thing, particularly as television was beginning to have an influence on the game.
His playing career began at Reading as an amateur under Ted Drake, before he turned pro with Brentford. In 1952 he moved to Fulham where he played alongside some of the greats in the game such as Bobby Robson, Johnny Haynes and George Cohen. Although a wing-half, he had a knack of scoring important goals. During Fulham's FA Cup run of 1958, which ended in semi-final defeat at the hands of Manchester United, he scored in every round.
An enthusiastic, whole-hearted rather than skilful player, he holds the club record of scoring five goals in an away match. Injury forced him to retire aged 33 after almost 300 appearances for the Cottagers. He swiftly moved into management at Coventry, guiding the club from the old Third Division to Division One. In his latter years, he played a key role in rescuing Fulham from extinction.
TV executive and pundit, there's nothing Jimmy hasn't done in the game - he even ran the line in a League match at Arsenal when a linesman injured himself!
END OF THE MAXIMUM WAGE
Jimmy Hill's four-year reign as chairman was a stormy yet very significant one. Within a couple of months of taking office, the 'Sunderland affair' blew up with several Sunderland players refusing to answer questions relating to 'under-the-counter' payments and the FA suspended them permanently from football.
Hill and his committee challenged the FA head-on. They demanded a wide-ranging enquiry and started a petition among professionals, calling on all players who'd received illegal monies to sign it. They calculated that so many men would 'own up' that the FA would be forced to drop their charges against the Sunderland men. It was a gamble, but it paid off. The Sunderland men were fined and allowed to play again. Later, their fines were quashed.
This scandal only made the Union more determined than ever to smash the restrictions on earnings and contracts that professional players were then subjected to. In 1961, backed by a 100 per cent strike ballot, Hill threatened to bring the game to a complete halt.
Under intense pressure, the Football League conceded where the maximum wage was concerned, and for the first time since the 19th Century, players were free to earn whatever their clubs were prepared to pay them. Within months, England captain Johnny Haynes was the first £100 a week player.
Hill left to manage Coventry soon afterwards. The organisation he left behind had been modernised and galvanised. It had also been re-named. No longer the Players' Union, it was now the Professional Footballers' Association.
PLAYERS' PAY DURING THE 50s
In the mid-1950s players were earning a maximum of £15 a week, but many of their 'extras' had hardly altered much since before the War. A player could hope for a benefit after five years' service of £750, just £100 more than in 1939. The win bonus was £2, a figure that hadn't changed for 16 years!
In the meantime, taxes and inflation had gone up considerably. If a player was transferred, whether the fee was £1000 or £10,000, the official 'signing-on fee' was £10, which players had been receiving before the First World War!
But what did top players earn in 1957? Here's a peep into a top player's wage packet. This is what Roger Byrne of Manchester United and England might have earned from July 1st 1956 until June 30th 1957, had Manchester United won the Cup and League double that year (They won the League but missed out in the Cup Final, losing to Aston Villa at Wembley):-
Wages from club 744 .0 .0 (£. s. d)
League match bonuses 72. 0. 0. (£. s. d)
League talent money 45. 5. 8. (£. s. d)
European Cup bonuses 60. 0. 0. (£. s. d)
Accrued benefit 150. 0. 0 (£. s. d)
Total 1071 .5 .8 (£. s. d)
Provident Fund credit 80. 6. 11 (£. s. d)
F.A.Cup bonus 56. 0. 0 (£. s. d)
F.A.Cup talent money 50. 0. 0 (£. s. d)
International match fees 400. 0. 0 (£. s. d)
Inter-League match fee 20. 0. 0 (£. s. d)
Total 1677. 12. 7. (£. s. d)
OTHER SIGNIFICANT PFA ACHIEVEMENTS
DURING THE HILL YEARS…
* In 1960, Union subscriptions were increased from 2/- to 2/6d, still a low figure when compared to other Unions. However, membership was beginning to increase for the first time since the war due to the higher profile Jimmy Hill was giving the Union.
* Also, in 1960, Newcastle United refused to grant George Eastham a transfer. When The Football League declined to help him, Jimmy Hill and Cliff Lloyd, PFA Secretary, decided to challenge the Retain and Transfer system in a court of law for the first time in 50 years.
OTHER FOOTBALL TRIVIA
By Brian Beard
1957
Manchester United stood on the brink of the first 'double' of the 20th century when they faced Aston Villa in the FA Cup Final as League Champions. The Busby Babes, the best team of the time, suffered the 'Wembley jinx' and lost their keeper Ray Wood when Villa's Irish international striker, Peter McParland indulged in the sport of the day, charging goalkeepers, and fractured his jaw, after just six minutes. McParland went on to score twice, Taylor replied for United, and Villa were thus STILL the last team to do the double, in 1897.
1958
February 6th was the day the heart was ripped out of Manchester United as eight players lost their lives in the Munich Air crash. Seven players died on the snow-covered tarmac as the BEA airliner crashed on its third attempt at take-off; Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Coleman, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Bill Whelan and the colossus that was Duncan Edwards died later after a fortnight in a coma. United's 'reserves' then battled their way to the FA Cup Final but lost to Bolton 2-0.
1959
Birmingham City left back Jeff Hall died of polio just a fortnight after being taken ill. The death of the England defender, who had never been on the losing side for his country, was used in a nationwide campaign to encourage the population to have the anti-polio vaccine to help combat the disease.
1960
Peterborough were finally elected to the Football League, at the 21st attempt. The club's FA Cup exploits contributed massively to the success in achieving League status as the team, in the previous seven seasons, had reached the 3rd Round twice and the 4th Round on two other occasions. They got their nickname, 'The Posh' because their 30,000 capacity London Road ground had superb facilities and was the envy of many clubs already in the Football League.
1961
Denis Law missed out on an FA Cup scoring record because of the weather. The Scottish international had scored all six goals in Manchester City's 6-2 victory over Luton, on a quagmire of a pitch at Kenilworth Road, when the referee abandoned the game after an hour. The mind boggles as to what Law might have achieved had the game run its course. The abandonment wiped Law's efforts from the record books and just to rub his nose in it Luton won the re-arranged game 3-1, and Denis hit City's less than consolation goal.