Colin Hill (footballer)

Colin Hill
Personal information
Full name	Colin Frederick Hill
Date of birth	12 November 1963 (age 60)
Place of birth	Uxbridge, Middlesex, England
Position(s)	Centre-back, right-back
Youth career
	Hillingdon Borough
1977-1981	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team
1981–1986	Arsenal
1986	→ Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)
1986–1987	Marítimo
1987–1989	Colchester United
1989–1992	Sheffield United
1992–1997	Leicester City
1997	Trelleborg
1997–1999	Northampton Town
Total
International career
1990–1998	Northern Ireland
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Colin Frederick Hill (born 12 November 1963) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back and right-back.

He notably played top flight football for Arsenal, Sheffield United and Leicester City, where he saw time in the Premier League with the latter. He also played in the top divisions of Portugal and Sweden for both Marítimo and Trelleborg as well as in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion, Colchester United and Northampton Town. He was capped 27 times by Northern Ireland, scoring one goal.

He is now a commercial director for the Professional Footballers' Association.^[1]

Career

Hill played as a youth for Hillingdon Borough before joining Arsenal on schoolboy forms in 1977, becoming an apprentice in 1980 and turning professional in 1981. Initially a striker, he was converted into a defender and made his debut against Norwich City on 20 April 1983. He made 7 appearances in total that season, and went on to play 37 league games in 1983–84, mostly at right-back, but the signing of Viv Anderson forced him out of the first team and he spent most of the next two seasons in the reserves.

Hill left Arsenal for Portuguese side Marítimo in July 1986 on a free transfer, having played 51 games and scoring one goal for Arsenal. He later had spells with Colchester United, Sheffield United (winning them promotion to the First Division in 1989–90), Leicester City (winning promotion to the Premier League in 1995–96, although he missed out on the 1997 League Cup Final), Trelleborg and Northampton Town. He also won 27 caps for Northern Ireland.