19/12/2015 BBC Weekend News

Jimmy Hill - footballer, presenter, and one of the most influential

Good evening and welcome to Match of the Day on the last Saturday

On TV he was the face of football for decades,

In tributes today, he's been described as a football man

through and through and an innovator in the sport.

An extraordinary life within the game.

He has given so much on the pitch, off the pitch and in the TV studio.

We'll be looking back at a remarkable life and career.

The Labour peer Lord Janner - who a few weeks ago was ruled unfit

to stand trial in connection with sexual offences

New hope for Syria as the UN Security Council unanimously backs

And they called it Panic Saturday - how early sales have tempted

He was a player, a broadcaster and a legend of the game.

Jimmy Hill, the former Match of the Day presenter,

He'd been suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

During his career, he successfully argued for the abolition of the ?20

Gary Lineker this afternoon described Jimmy Hill as a genuine

innovator and a football man through and through.

Our Sports Correspondent Andy Swiss looks back at a remarkable life.

Good evening and welcome to Match of the Day on the last Saturday

He was the face of football, but so much more.

Player, manager, broadcaster and innovator.

Few have influenced the modern game as much as Jimmy Hill.

At his former clubs this afternoon, fans paid tribute to a man

We wouldn't be here today, this wouldn't be here,

everything about Coventry City wouldn't be here

The things that he did just revolutionised the game.

He will never be forgotten at this club, I can assure

Born in south London, Hill first made his name

Off it, he would soon have a greater impact.

As head of the Players' Union, he brought an end the ?20 a week

wage cap and for the first time, footballers could cash in.

This is Jimmy Hill, Fulham's famous bearded inside right,

shaving with the new Remington, the world's fastest shave.

As manager of Coventry in the 1960s, he brought promotion but also

He introduced pre-match entertainment, trains to take fans

Having guided them to the top flight, he suddenly quit

At ITV he created the idea of having football pundits before

he moved to the BBC and Match of the Day.

Good evening and welcome to Match of the Day for the start

During the 1970s, that famous chin and distinctive beard turned him

into football's biggest fixture, but all of the time

He returned to Coventry as chairman and led

the battle against hooliganism, creating England's first all-seater

He pushed for the introduction of three points for a win,

So much of the current game, not least its wealthy players,

A lot of professional footballers since then have a lot to thank him

Always looking to improve things and change things.

He stepped in as an emergency linesman at one game,

took up horse riding for a TV programme, not entirely

and was a regular target for satirists.

He was more than happy to poke fun at himself.

Losing games in football is not something they wanted to do.

Winning, yes, losing, you don't want to do that.

From his real-life colleagues, there was only affection.

He was by my side, a reassuring figure, correcting me quietly

Jimmy had that kind of personality and humanity, and a fantastic

And most of all, he thought of things before other people did.

Indeed, he was a man ahead of his time.

While his forthright views may have divided opinion,

Jimmy Hill's impact on modern football is surely beyond dispute.

The footballer and broadcaster Jimmy Hill, who died today.

The former Labour MP Lord Janner has died

Earlier this month, a judge ruled that his dementia meant he was unfit

to stand trial on 22 counts of historical sexual

Lord Janner always denied the claims.

Tonight, a lawyer who represents six alleged victims said

it was devastating news for her clients.

Our Political Correspondent, Chris Mason, reports.

This was the closest Lord Janner came to having two and served for

the sex crimes he was accused. Threatened with arrest, facing

charges of sexual abuse over three decades, he appeared at Westminster

Magistrates' Court in the summer but a High Court judge later concluded

that a man who could very recognise his own family was not fit to stand

trial. There was not a shred of truth in any of the allegations.

Lord Janner, a Labour MP for 27 years, was forced to deny

allegations of wrongdoing as early as 1991. This is a notorious

children's home in Leicester where Lord Janner was a mP. It is where

one of the country's worst paedophiles, Frank back, preyed on

young people. During his trial one-man alleged there another

abuser. Lord Janner. That was not the end of it, he became a peer,

allegations of child abuse multiplied but in 2007 prosecutors

said there wasn't enough evidence to try him. By the time proceedings did

begin, it was too late. Obviously, sincere condolences to Lord Janner's

family but this is a deeply disappointing day for his alleged

victims. All they had ever wanted to do was give their evidence in a

court of law and for that evidence to be tested and they have seen that

justice has been denied to them at the 11th hour. Lord Janner was a

prominent figure in the Jewish community and founded the Holocaust

educational trust. Tonight, the Chief Rabbi paid tribute to his

work. Lord Janner's alleged victims already knew he would never face

conviction for the offences he had been charged with. But they were

going to be able to make their case in court in the spring. With Lord

Janner's death, that is not likely to happen.

What does like to happen? Who was due to be a trial of defects in

April, a curious legal twist which would have involved an examination

of the evidence against Lord Janner but without him being there. A jury

would have been there, and it's fit aims could appear in court but there

would have been no finding of guilt or conviction but tonight the Crown

Prosecution Service told the BBC that subject to formal confirmation

that they will receive the death, that will not happen. It leaves the

alleged victims and their families deeply frustrated because whilst

they knew there was no prospect of conviction of Lord Janner, at least

felt there was an opportunity in court to say what they had been

thinking for many years. What they will now hope, I think, is that this

will be picked up by the government 's child abuse enquiry being chaired

by Gothard, which is due to get under way soon and we hope that can

provide some answers and at least they will hope that lessons can be

learned from their own experience of criminal justice system. Thank you,

Chris Mason. There are fresh hopes that the end

of the war in Syria could be a step closer after a United Nations peace

plan received the unanimous backing The plan calls for a nationwide

ceasefire and formal talks about a new inclusive government,

although there is no mention Our Chief International

Correspondent, Lyse Doucet, reports. Nearly five years of fighting

have left Syria in ruin. Torn between a vast array

of rebel forces battling The so-called Islamic State has

taken territory too and that's The bitter battles over Syria's

future also blocked the UN Security Council for years,

but now at last, the deadlock The time is now to stop

the killing in Syria, lay the groundwork for a government,

that the long-suffering people The new road map

is hugely ambitious. Along with efforts

to reach a ceasefire. The goal is a transitional,

national unity government within six months and UN supervised

elections a year later. To achieve this, they had to put

aside the biggest dispute, Not only for moral reasons

because of the destruction he has unleashed upon his own people,

but for practical reasons because it will never be possible to bring

peace and unity to Syria as long But Russia's new military

intervention in Syria is strengthening President Assad's

forces along key front lines TRANSLATION: My counterparts say

let's start a political process that those who want to oust Assad

are getting some hope It is very sad that once again,

our common task, that is, putting an end to terrorism has

become hostage to one personality. This is no longer just Syria's war,

but millions of Syrians are paying Syria has been called

the humanitarian test of our time, now it is the greatest

of political challenges. Today was expected to be the busiest

shopping day of the year. Many retailers have

started their sales early rather than wait

until after Christmas and more than 12.5 million

of us were thought to be bargain-hunting on what analysts

called Panic Saturday. Our business correspondent,

Joe Lynam, has been out A few years ago, getting discounts

of up to 50% before Christmas Day It is the last Saturday before

Christmas and retail experts believe we will spend as much as ?6 billion

over the next six shopping days. Unseasonably warm weather

and disappointing High Street sales on Black Friday have meant some

retailers have a lot of stock which they need to shift

before the winter sales This has had the effect of bringing

forward some heady discounting stores, such as Debenhams,

Argos and H I have bought comedy things

for the Christmas table. If you are panic buying,

you are not likely to get a bargain I am literally buying

from the first shop I walk into. We bought a laptop today

with a good discount. I will wait till tomorrow,

I'm a clever man that way! Footfall, the number of people

physically crossing thresholds, is down slightly on last year,

according to the analysts Much of that is due to the ever

increasing rise in online shopping. The UK High Street is much more

competitive than it has ever been. One reason is the shopper

is much more experienced, knowledgeable, they will go online

to tell them what is what. So when they walk into a shop,

they are expecting a nice If they don't get that,

they're walking out. It was shirt sleeves weather

in parts of the UK today, which will have coaxed extra

shoppers to the High Street. But to make them spend,

shopkeepers have had The former Netherlands boss

Guus Hiddink has been appointed It's his second time in the job -

he led the team to FA He replaces Jose Mourinho,

who was sacked on Thursday. As Match of the Day

follows this programme, if you don't want to know

the result of today's game, you need to leave the room now

because there are details For Chelsea, the beginning of

a new era, the post-Mourinho error. Despite being sacked on Thursday,

the so-called Special One was still the talk of

Stamford Bridge today. Just hours before Chelsea kicked

off against Sunderland, Mourinho was spotted watching

Brighton take on Middlesbrough and his representatives

issued a statement. In it, they said the Portuguese

will not be taking a sabbatical, he isn't tired, he doesn't need it,

he is very positive Speculation about where

he goes next will rage. His replacement at Chelsea

is Guus Hiddink, appointed until the end of the season

for the second time. The Dutchman watched the Blues

return to winning ways. A much-needed result in what has

been a dreadful season The managerial job at Chelsea

is for an experienced manager, we need an experienced manager

at this club. So, Chelsea make an encouraging

start to life after Mourinho. But the supporters remain split over

the decision to get rid of him. We know the players can

perform when they could, Absolutely gutted

but what can you do? Guus Hiddink is a good choice

until the end of the season. Come the summer, Chelsea will

appoint a new permanent manager. The only certainty is it

won't be Jose Mourinho. David Ornstein, BBC

News, Stamford Bridge. You can see more about all today's

stories on the BBC News Channel. T-shirt weather for some of us

through this afternoon but some rarer weather for others, like

northern Spain and south-west France, 25 degrees so not just us

experiencing the