BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Ricky Hill (born 5 March 1959) is a former English footballer and the current head coach for Tampa Bay Rowdies in the second division North American Soccer League.
He was born in Paddington.[2]
Early life
Hill attended John Kelly Boys' Technology College in Neasden, where he was spotted playing for his school team by then Luton Town reserve coach David Pleat.
Playing career
Hill joined Luton in 1975 and made 436 League appearances, scoring 54 goals in the process, from 1976 to 1989.[3]
He earned 3 full England caps during this time, making his debut on 22 September 1982[2] as a substitute for Bryan Robson in England's 2-2 draw with Denmark in Copenhagen - the nation's first match under the management of Bobby Robson. He was only the fourth black player to represent England at the highest level. He was capped three times in total for England, with his last appearance being against Egypt on 29 January 1986.[2]
He helped Luton win promotion to the First Division in 1981-82 as Second Division champions, and in 1987-88, he was part of the team that won their first - and only to date - major trophy as they achieved a thrilling 3-2 win over Arsenal in the Football League Cup final. In 1989 he moved on a free transfer to French club Le Havre.[3]
In 1990 he transferred to Leicester City for £100,000, rejoining David Pleat for a brief spell, before heading abroad to be player/coach with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the US. As a player-coach where he took them to two national championships and was named 1992 'Coach of the Year'.[3]
On his return to England, Ricky had a brief spell as a player with non-league Chertsey Town and Hitchin. He returned to the US for two seasons at Cocoa Expos before moving into coaching in England.[3]
Coaching career
In 1996, he was appointed the youth team coach (under-19) at Sheffield Wednesday again by David Pleat. He then had a spell coaching youth (under-17) at Tottenham Hotspur.
Hill was appointed manager of Luton in July 2000, but it was an unsuccessful stint in which he won only two games, and he left the post in November 2000.[4]
On 18 January 2011 Hill was announced as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League.[5] In 2012, Hill led the Rowdies to the league championship with a win in Soccer Bowl 2012.[6]
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