Where Are They Now?                                   Profiles of ex-Luton players

Ricky Hill

[Click HERE to return to the Where Are They Now? index]

Height: - Weight: - Born: Paddington, 05.03.1959. Nationality: England. International Honours: England 3 full caps.

A tricky and skilful midfielder, and an absolute Luton legend in his own right, Ricky Hill played for Luton during arguably their most successful-ever period, in which they won the Littlewoods Cup in 1988, reached the final the following season and got through to 2 FA Cup semi-finals and a Simod Cup final.  Oh, and add to that the fact that Hill was an integral part of a Division Two Championship-winning side and a team that survived for 7 seasons in the Old Division One and included a highest-ever finish of 7^th in the 1986-87 season.

Ricky was born in Paddington on March 5th 1959 and represented Brent district and Middlesex county in schools football.  In 1975 Luton reserve coach David Pleat spotted Ricky playing for the Sir John Kelly School against Hitchin School in the National Pepsi - Cola Schools Under 16 Trophy.  Pleat offered Ricky a trial, describing him as an "overweight boy with a clever football brain and fine control".  Within a year he was an apprentice and signed as a professional in November 1975.  As a youngster, Ricky dropped a slab of concrete on his left foot, and so he trained considerably on his right foot, becoming a 'two footed' player.

Ricky burst onto the scene as a youngster in the 1975-76 season when he came on as a substitute and scored in a 3-1 home win over Bristol Rovers in Easter 1976.  With the score at 1-1, Ricky came on and set up one goal, and then scored with a shot to complete a 3-1 victory and a great debut.  He played the first 5 games of the 1976-77 season scoring two goals, but was then dropped to make way for Jim Ryan.  He returned to the first-team against Notts County in April 1977, scoring twice in a 4-2 win.  Ricky then became, injury apart, a fixture in the side for the next 12 years.  He was also a regular in the 1981-1982 Championship winning team.

Ricky Hill in action for Luton Town.

Always likely to score a goal and a superb passer of the ball with some real trickery, Ricky earned 3 caps for England despite playing for an ‘unfashionable’ club.  His first cap came in 1983 as a substitute against Denmark and he started against West Germany during the same year.  Three years later he earned his third and final cap as a substitute against Egypt.  He also earned representative honours at both Youth and Under-21 levels.

After a staggering 13 years as a first-team player with Luton and 436 League appearances (scoring 54 goals), Ricky joined French side Le Havre in 1988, the club handing him a free transfer as a mark of respect for his fantastic dedication, loyalty and service to the Hatters. 

However, his days at Kenilworth Road weren’t entirely finished.  Having left Le Havre and had brief a brief spell as a player with Leicester City, Ricky had a spell in America as he joined Tampa Bay Rowdies as a player-coach where he took them to two national championships and was named 'Coach of the Year'.  On his return to England, Ricky had brief spells as a player with non-league sides Chertsey Town and Hitchin Town before returning to the USA for 18 months as player-coach of Coco Expos - he also took these to a championship final.  In 1996 he was appointed the youth team coach at Sheffield Wednesday by David Pleat who was Ricky's manager during his successful spell with Luton.  Ricky looked after the Under-19 team at Hillsborough.

Ricky was appointed as the Luton Town manager on July 10th 2000 following the shock sacking of Lennie Lawrence.  Installed by new chairman Mike Watson-Challis, Ricky left his position as the Tottenham Hotspur Under-17 coach to return to Kenilworth Road for the second time having been a player with the club in the 70's and 80's.

Ricky inevitably returned ‘home’ and came back to Bedfordshire to a hero’s welcome.  Unfortunately, the move didn't work out exactly as planned and Ricky was sacked as Luton manager on November 15th 2000 after just 2 wins in 21 matches.  With the Hatters lying second to bottom of the Second Division, and 5 points from the team directly above them, the decision was taken to relieve Ricky of his duties as manager following a 0-3 home defeat to Bristol City.  It was a sad end to what had appeared to be a dream move for the club, fans and Ricky.

Since leaving Luton, Ricky has had a spell as a football agent, helping players such as Junior Agogo join Barnet.  After a 2-year period as an agent, Ricky returned to football management by becoming the boss of Trinidad & Tobago side San Juan Jabloteh.   He was voted the 2003 T&T Pro League Coach of the Year after leading Jabloteh to a successful defence of the league title and also captured the FCB Cup. Under Hill, Jabloteh also became Caribbean football champions for the first time in 2003 and they also reached the quarter-final stage of the CONCACAF Club Championship in his first year as coach. Ricky left Trinidad and Tobago in 2004 to return to England. Ricky now is trying to coach his son Shane Hill, who was released by Sheffield United in 2006 and had an unsuccessful trial spell at Kenilworth Road during the 2006-07 pre-season campaign.

Profile By:  James Garley