0:00:02 > 0:00:04There is one great story. In fact, I was thinking about it in the car.
0:00:04 > 0:00:09England had been beaten at the semifinal of the World Cup in 1990.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Somebody asked Terry Venables, who was there,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13what's the criteria for the new England manager?
0:00:13 > 0:00:14Jimmy says, "I'll tell you.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17"I'll tell you what the criteria is.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18"Must have played at the highest level,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20"must have been a manager at the highest level,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23"must have been a director at the highest level,
0:00:23 > 0:00:25"must have the respect of the Football Association,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28"must have the respect of the press and the media,
0:00:28 > 0:00:30"must have the respect of the supporters."
0:00:30 > 0:00:32And Lynam went, "Jimmy, who on this planet
0:00:32 > 0:00:34"has got all those qualifications?"
0:00:34 > 0:00:35Jimmy went, "Me!"
0:00:37 > 0:00:40And it wasn't a joke.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44He spoke with more conviction and more self-confidence
0:00:44 > 0:00:47than any other person I've ever met in my life.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50It's a goal! Jimmy Hill!
0:00:50 > 0:00:53It's hard to describe anyone that has given football as much
0:00:53 > 0:00:55in so many different areas as Jimmy Hill.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57I would like to be a dictator.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00How can I describe him without being too much over the top?
0:01:00 > 0:01:02He was like a Messiah to Coventry.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04A bearded wonder!
0:01:04 > 0:01:07Remarkable character. A complete one-off.
0:01:07 > 0:01:08He always used to wear that bowtie
0:01:08 > 0:01:11and get up the Scots fans' noses a bit!
0:01:11 > 0:01:13He was a cartoonist's dream, wasn't he?
0:01:13 > 0:01:15He had the perfect face for the caricature.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18It feels almost as if I'm touching a bare lady's bottom.
0:01:18 > 0:01:19Be quiet, will you?
0:01:19 > 0:01:21He was always going to fill up lots of time.
0:01:21 > 0:01:22He had lots of opinions.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25The biggest problem with Jimmy was shutting him up!
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Did he change football? The answer is yes.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29It was Jimmy who got the three points for a win.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Started all-seater stadiums.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Talk about a man for all seasons, he was a man for everything.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38A man who revolutionised the way the professionals were paid.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39A charmer. He was a good guy.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42There's no question Jimmy Hill leaves a legacy in football.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Which is the most important part of it, I don't know,
0:01:45 > 0:01:46but the fact that there are so many
0:01:46 > 0:01:48probably makes him completely unique.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08When he died last December,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10there was no better place than here
0:02:10 > 0:02:14to celebrate 87 years that had burst with life.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18This was a place he loved and that loved him in return.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21The heart of the City of Coventry.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Because Jimmy Hill was once the beating heart of Coventry City.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31I think for me, he was a great innovator, pioneer.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34The legacy of many of the things that he introduced
0:02:34 > 0:02:36are the things we take for granted today.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37We're actually saying goodbye
0:02:37 > 0:02:40to someone who has played an enormous part in English football.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42That's why I think so many people
0:02:42 > 0:02:44from the top end of football are here today,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46to pay our respects to him in this way.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49I caught the end of a phone-in
0:02:49 > 0:02:51asking who was the most significant person ever
0:02:51 > 0:02:54from the City of Coventry?
0:02:54 > 0:02:58I was shocked to hear Dad had come second to Lady Godiva!
0:02:58 > 0:03:01LAUGHTER
0:03:01 > 0:03:06He was Mr Football and a real-life Roy of the Rovers
0:03:06 > 0:03:10with a brain and with a chin.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13The recurring themes in Dad's action-packed life
0:03:13 > 0:03:16seem to have been football, charity
0:03:16 > 0:03:19and wives.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22It was overwhelming when he passed away,
0:03:22 > 0:03:27the kindness and the admiration and the affection for Jimmy
0:03:27 > 0:03:32that came across so openly and so incredibly.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37It was heart-warming and bewildering and overwhelming.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41I will treasure and cherish those messages forever.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45# ..Oysters or anyone
0:03:45 > 0:03:47# They shan't defeat us... #
0:03:47 > 0:03:49I thought it was a really moving tribute to Jimmy.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Quite emotional, but fun as well,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56and passion, which are the things that Jimmy had in abundance.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59I just wish he could have been alive to see it
0:03:59 > 0:04:00because he would have loved it.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06My memory of Jimmy was somebody who cared,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09who loved life,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12enjoyed the good things of life and was prepared to work for them.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17When you separate the celebrity from the person,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20he was the son of a milkman, from south London,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22and he came an awful long way.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Well, they were very happy days, although my mum particularly had
0:04:26 > 0:04:29a rather sad life in some ways because her first husband was killed
0:04:29 > 0:04:34in the First World War and left her with two children, one of whom,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38a girl - Irene was her name - played cricket for England.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42But she was killed as a result of a motorcycle accident in 1935
0:04:42 > 0:04:47and my stepbrother, her brother, was killed in the last war.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50So, really, it was a very unhappy time for my mother,
0:04:50 > 0:04:51but she was indomitable.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54She had a great spirit and she rose above all that.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59And I was the only child of her second marriage to Mr William Hill.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Never went to university, was a chimney sweep,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05became a young footballer at Brentford, which was my club,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09and he ended up changing football and then changing broadcasting.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14When he first came to Fulham, he started off a wing half
0:05:14 > 0:05:17and then they converted him into an inside forward.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19And we scored a lot of goals as a team,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22but Jimmy got more than his fair share of goals.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25It's a goal! Jimmy Hill has equalised!
0:05:25 > 0:05:27I think he had a good career as a player, actually, at Fulham,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30by the time of Haynes and Bobby Robson,
0:05:30 > 0:05:31a lot of really good players.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33They had a pretty good team at the time, Fulham.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37I knew Jimmy Hill very well. I played with Jimmy Hill at Fulham.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Nothing wrong with Jimmy Hill.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43His big thing was his stamina. He ran all day. I mean,
0:05:43 > 0:05:48tremendous energy. You could rely on Jimmy to give you 100% everything,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51he would be running when everyone else was exhausted
0:05:51 > 0:05:53and he'd still be going.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57He'll try to tell the referee his job and no doubt will be spoken to
0:05:57 > 0:06:00by the referee for that bit of nonsense from Jimmy Hill.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Jimmy was that front man, if he walked into a room,
0:06:03 > 0:06:08he had presence. He had his beard. He was swashbuckling, as a player.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Perfect for him to be leading the PFA.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14When he became chairman of the Players' Union,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18he didn't have to go far for his first political scrap.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Rumours that Haynes is seeking a transfer have made headlines,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24and today he went to Craven Cottage for talks with the management.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Is it true you are going to leave Fulham, Johnny?
0:06:26 > 0:06:30It was all about scrapping the maximum wage.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Footballers could be paid 20 quid a week and no more.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Johnny Haynes was the cause,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39and his Fulham team-mate was just the man to fight it.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42- # I need money - That's what I want... #
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Footballers should get paid more,
0:06:44 > 0:06:46because the amount of money that goes into the game...
0:06:46 > 0:06:49But why do you think they should be paid more just for playing a game?
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Well, thousands go to see it, so we really should be paid.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56They pay money to see us, so we should get what comes out of
0:06:56 > 0:06:58the gate, if you understand?
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Jimmy, of course, he had a personality to not worry about
0:07:02 > 0:07:07who he was fighting against. He was fighting for every English player.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10All I can see at this moment is the beard
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and the most glorious overcoat that I'd ever seen.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18He was six foot-plus and he had the stature, and he was a leader of men.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Because of the character that he had, he was prepared
0:07:21 > 0:07:27to stick the chin out all the time, with a beard or without it.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32This is Jimmy Hill, Fulham's famous bearded inside right,
0:07:32 > 0:07:37shaving with the new Remington, the world's fastest shave.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42It was more a Walter Raleigh beard...a little... It was...
0:07:42 > 0:07:44You could see him as d'Artagnan.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Why don't you go on strike
0:07:46 > 0:07:47if you've got all the players in your union?
0:07:47 > 0:07:50It isn't our intention to go on strike because there's a phrase,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54"softly, softly, catchee monkey", which is perhaps our maxim.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58It was fighting to open the doors. You know, where are we going?
0:07:58 > 0:08:02You can't keep limiting us to £20 a week because your clubs are earning
0:08:02 > 0:08:05more money than that, why aren't we being successful?
0:08:05 > 0:08:08We are the players. We produce.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11And why can't we have more money?
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Well, this is a theme that has come up and up and it's really stale.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18You see, a footballer does very well, a star footballer.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20First of all, he gets £20 a week,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23he gets £17 a week when he's not playing...
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Directors in these days, it seemed to be old owners who owned a club
0:08:26 > 0:08:29for 100 years or something, you know? And I think that was
0:08:29 > 0:08:33the way football was in these days. But if he was to deal with some of
0:08:33 > 0:08:37the directors today, I think he'd make a different opinion of it.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40At meetings in Birmingham and London, the stars have never been
0:08:40 > 0:08:42so militant or outspoken as they are today.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44If the four main points raised today
0:08:44 > 0:08:46are not brought about by the management committee,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49I honestly think strike action will be demanded.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Jimmy, the union has been negotiating for better conditions
0:08:52 > 0:08:55ever since there's been a union, and that's 60 years.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Football league clubs have done nothing yet to suggest they are even
0:08:58 > 0:09:01- prepared to meet you halfway. - We must face the possibility
0:09:01 > 0:09:03that in a month's time, there will be complete deadlock.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05These players today have faced it,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08but nevertheless, they instructed us to issue this resolution
0:09:08 > 0:09:11from the meeting, and it was passed unanimously.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14So you would be satisfied with a promise in the next month?
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Well, it isn't our committee. We would put it back to the players
0:09:17 > 0:09:21and say exactly what had been promised and stated by the league.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Then it's up to them to see whether they are going to be
0:09:23 > 0:09:26satisfied or not.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29The club owners gave in.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32The maximum wage was scrapped.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36The near-striker celebrated the goal...with restraint.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Well, I wouldn't say we have achieved it all. I don't think
0:09:38 > 0:09:42we'd ever have settled it if we achieved everything, there would
0:09:42 > 0:09:44have been a strike and I don't know what would have happened.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48But I think we've achieved, more or less, the things that are going to
0:09:48 > 0:09:51benefit football, which is the important thing.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53I mean, he had that greatness about him.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56And he was outspoken. He was outspoken.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59I think that was the pivotal moment in his life.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01What did you start, Jimmy?
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Johnny Haynes became the first £100-a-week player.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08They earn that per second now, but at the time...
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Yes, an iconic day, that's special.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15You can tell by the smiles on the faces that they've been successful.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18I am sure that will be one of the best dinners they ever had.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23No strike, solidarity, players union, well-established,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26and a basis for the future.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29And instead of it being the demise of the game,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33which a few against it had predicted,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36five years later, we won the World Cup.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41He would have had no idea the implications and the repercussions
0:10:41 > 0:10:44of that change in the law. And every time he read the paper
0:10:44 > 0:10:47and he saw a six-figure or seven-figure number
0:10:47 > 0:10:49of another player getting this, that and the other, he said,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53"That can't be true." I said, "It's in the paper, James, it's true!"
0:10:53 > 0:10:58When you look back, the bearded wonder pulled it off!
0:11:00 > 0:11:02# I'm going up the country
0:11:02 > 0:11:04# Baby, don't you wanna go? #
0:11:04 > 0:11:07His playing days were over.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10And having just won his first trophy as a union leader,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13he now quit politics, too.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17He was leaving London and heading for the Midlands.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20The familiar beard is still there, but today, Jimmy Hill is building
0:11:20 > 0:11:23a new career on the opposite side of the fence
0:11:23 > 0:11:25as manager of Third Division Coventry City.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30Good job, well done! Five goals and a corner! Come on, Reggie.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33You're stood there dithering.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36When Jimmy came along, it was very much a down at heel club.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39It was a dump, basically. The whole place had really sort of gone
0:11:39 > 0:11:43to seed and it was Jim that came in like a whirlwind, I think,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47and just inspired the whole city, just dragged it up by its bootlaces.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54When I came here, I came with a tracksuit. I put it on within
0:11:54 > 0:11:57half an hour of arriving at the club and, really,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00all I thought of was making them play better and getting results.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04He was a man that you just stood and admired.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08But his enthusiasm and his movements of his body,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10they never seemed to coordinate.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13And we used to laugh at him a little bit,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16with that passion and commitment that he had.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Everybody knows he was innovative, but he was so far advanced,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24you just couldn't keep up with the man at times.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26And not only did he build a very good team,
0:12:26 > 0:12:28but he had all sorts of ideas. You know, the Sky Blue train
0:12:28 > 0:12:31that used to take the fans to an away game.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35And the song that they still sing, the Boating Song.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38He was up to every... I was going to say "gimmick",
0:12:38 > 0:12:40but probably would be fairer to say "development"
0:12:40 > 0:12:43that he could lay his hands on.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Coventry are still on top of the Second Division
0:12:46 > 0:12:48and favourites for the Championship.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50THEY LAUGH
0:12:50 > 0:12:53They are just fabulous. All they sing about now is the Sky Blue,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56- Monday morning, at work... - In the shops, everywhere you go,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59in the shops, everything is Sky Blue.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02It's only since Jimmy Hill came here.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05There's a lady over, fainted. Would you pick her up off the floor?
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Number 134...
0:13:08 > 0:13:12is the winner of this wonderful automobile, made in Coventry.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16Didn't he also introduce the first-ever colour programme
0:13:16 > 0:13:19that you get? And the list is absolutely endless.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Jimmy was just miles ahead of anybody.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25He brought the city up, it wasn't just the football club,
0:13:25 > 0:13:26he brought the whole city up.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28This thing about "shoulders back, chest out",
0:13:28 > 0:13:32that's something that Coventry maybe as a Midlands kind of city
0:13:32 > 0:13:35doesn't do all the time. But I think Jim got it.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37He was like... How can I describe it
0:13:37 > 0:13:39without being not too much over the top?
0:13:39 > 0:13:42He was like a Messiah to Coventry.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47All these changes were happening. I think that you've got to remember
0:13:47 > 0:13:49that there was a big liberation after the war.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54The '60s became an absolute new world.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58You had the Beatles, George Best, you had a completely different
0:13:58 > 0:14:02happening, and Jimmy was part of that, you know?
0:14:05 > 0:14:10How would you think, if you were going to take 18 players,
0:14:10 > 0:14:11three players to a car,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15and you were going to start in Coventry and you were going into
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Belgium, you were going into Austria,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21you were going into Germany and you were going all over Europe?
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Because that's what we did in Rover 2000s.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27# Baby, you can drive my car
0:14:28 > 0:14:32# Yes, I'm gonna be a star... #
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Well, Jimmy, Sky Blue footballers and sky blue motorcars,
0:14:35 > 0:14:36what is it all about this time?
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Well, we've been touring Europe for a few years now
0:14:39 > 0:14:42and we've never made any money. In fact, we've always lost money.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46So this year, we wanted an idea to make money in Europe
0:14:46 > 0:14:48so we approached the Rover car company and said,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52"You take us there and we will help you sell your cars."
0:14:52 > 0:14:56So it's a sort of football tour to help the export drive.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59We can't believe it. We all take turns to drive.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03We are going down these autobahns at 60, 70, 80mph,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05handing over water, pop, you name it.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08And not only that, we played games as well.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11And it was just unbelievable.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13# Beep-beep'm beep-beep, yeah... #
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Well, Jimmy, the very best of luck both with your football results
0:15:16 > 0:15:18and your export figures.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Well, thank you very much, Frank. And if we get promotion on the way,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24we will really sell some cars in Europe, so cheerio!
0:15:24 > 0:15:25# Beep-beep'm beep-beep, yeah... #
0:15:25 > 0:15:27The city was buzzing.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Not only with the football, but industry was going well,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34the car factories were turning out thousands of cars every week.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37But then again, Jimmy encompassed that by taking the players
0:15:37 > 0:15:42round to the car factories, to bring the players to the public.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45The only time that you didn't want anything from Coventry
0:15:45 > 0:15:48with the car service was on a Friday afternoon.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Because everybody was talking about football.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54After the Sky Blues had won on a Saturday,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56production of cars the following week
0:15:56 > 0:15:59would be a lot more than if we had lost.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Jim had this saying that you can beat a club,
0:16:02 > 0:16:04but you can't beat a club in a city.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07The people in the car factories and so on, they can actually see
0:16:07 > 0:16:10a synergy there between themselves and the football club
0:16:10 > 0:16:12and that was ground-breaking at the time.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16How significant is the football club to the Coventry car worker?
0:16:16 > 0:16:19I think it plays a big part in his or her life.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22I've never worked on an assembly line myself,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25but I have watched them and I imagine that at the end of a day
0:16:25 > 0:16:29you want something to lift you up, and a weekend away supporting
0:16:29 > 0:16:33the Coventry City Football Club, I think, gives them that lift.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36He did everything for the game, everything he was into.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39I mean, the publicity on the shirts,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42he wanted to call Coventry Coventry Talbot because of the car,
0:16:42 > 0:16:47at the time. He was ahead of the game all the way through.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50I talked to Bill Shankly, the old manager of Liverpool,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54and he said, "It's a bloody circus!"
0:16:54 > 0:16:57I said, "It's not, he's brought life to Coventry.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59"He revitalised everything."
0:16:59 > 0:17:02He knew what he wanted to give us for what we had given Coventry,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06and that was promotion to the First Division.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10# I thought love was only true in fairytales... #
0:17:10 > 0:17:12Oh, it's a goal!
0:17:14 > 0:17:17If you think what he did in that time,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19people needed a lot of persuading.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23In those days, everything was black and white,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25and for Jimmy to persuade so many people,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27certainly in charge of football,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31to persuade them that these ideas that he was having would be radical,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34they would be brilliant, must have took some doing.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37# Not a trace
0:17:37 > 0:17:39# Of doubt in my mind... #
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Derrick Robins, chairman of Coventry City Football Group,
0:17:42 > 0:17:44enjoying the fruits of success.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46With his manager, Jimmy Hill,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Robins has taken a depressed Third Division club and transformed it.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Together, they've achieved an extraordinary partnership
0:17:52 > 0:17:55with their supporters, who have come back in their thousands.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Commercial awareness allied to a love of sport has guided
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Coventry City into the top flight for the first time.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04ALL: # Let's all sing together
0:18:04 > 0:18:09# Play up Sky Blues
0:18:09 > 0:18:12# While we sing together... #
0:18:12 > 0:18:15He brought his mum and dad into the football club,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18he brought them up from London and everybody came together.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21So there was Mr and Mrs Hill, his mum and dad, behind the bar,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23there was a lady that did all the cooking,
0:18:23 > 0:18:28and JH would come and sit with us, so we were a big family.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30- ALL:- # They can't defeat us... #
0:18:30 > 0:18:31He celebrated...
0:18:31 > 0:18:34- ALL:- # We'll fight till the game is done... #
0:18:34 > 0:18:36..and he left.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38CHEERING AND WHISTLING
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Jimmy, you have shaken Coventry City rigid today by this decision.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Now, why are you leaving Coventry and what are you going to do?
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Well, why? I am leaving Coventry because I have decided to give up
0:18:48 > 0:18:49football management.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52CHEERING AND SINGING
0:18:52 > 0:18:55He took us into the boardroom, sat us all down
0:18:55 > 0:18:58and it was straight talking. He just said,
0:18:58 > 0:19:03"Well, lads, I am fed up of 11 people trying to keep me in a job
0:19:03 > 0:19:04"every Saturday afternoon."
0:19:04 > 0:19:07# We'll fight till the game is won... #
0:19:07 > 0:19:10I think there was a genuine feeling of disbelief. There was
0:19:10 > 0:19:13almost this godlike figure that had dragged them up
0:19:13 > 0:19:15from the Third Division, Cup runs, the Sky Blue Revolution
0:19:15 > 0:19:18and all that sort of thing, and he's gone.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20We didn't have our leader any more.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23He was Jimmy Hill, simple as that.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26He decided to get out of management. He was shrewd enough to get out
0:19:26 > 0:19:28of management, cos it's a hard business.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32JH decided he was going and he went into television
0:19:32 > 0:19:34and he was controlling his own life.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38And what a success he made, what a success!
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Television had its way, back then, of doing football.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Perhaps it was time for a bit of a shake-up.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54You remember when you used to have the sport on a Saturday
0:19:54 > 0:19:55and it was Kenneth Wolstenholme.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59Coventry City had their moments of glory against Manchester United,
0:19:59 > 0:20:00as you can now see.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03He was obviously a professional,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05but Jimmy brought something different, you know?
0:20:05 > 0:20:08He had a lot of style about him, Jimmy.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11I think that that's why probably television went for him, you see.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14I think he was the perfect fit for television football.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Jimmy Hill went to London Weekend to be Head of Sport.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24I mean, he had no background in it at all.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27It was a very brave decision by somebody.
0:20:27 > 0:20:28You wouldn't do it today, would you?
0:20:28 > 0:20:32But he got the job as Head of Sport, and was a very good Head of Sport.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Jimmy said to me, "I've never heard anyone call you Richard."
0:20:35 > 0:20:38I said, "No, they don't. They call me Dick or Dickie."
0:20:38 > 0:20:42And he said, "Then I think you should become Dickie Davies."
0:20:42 > 0:20:44It took me by surprise,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48and I told my wife, and she wasn't very happy with it.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50But I became Dickie Davies.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52It made such an incredible difference.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56DD - it was easy, it was friendlier. That was very good thinking.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58And, of course, Brian Moore and Jimmy
0:20:58 > 0:21:02were the partnership that looked after football on ITV in those days.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09If it's an ex-player on there all the time
0:21:09 > 0:21:13talking about the way that you play, about the way somebody else plays,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17somebody who's actually been and done it,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21and then if you factor in coaching, managing,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25all those kind of things, Jimmy basically ticked every box.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29He got the whole thing. He got the whole thing about debate.
0:21:29 > 0:21:30He got television.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Well, Bob, that was a wonderful match.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Jimmy was one of the architects
0:21:35 > 0:21:38of the great ITV World Cup panel in 1970.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40That might be the first World Cup
0:21:40 > 0:21:43where ITV were the talked-about channel
0:21:43 > 0:21:45because they put together a panel of experts
0:21:45 > 0:21:47that fired opinions,
0:21:47 > 0:21:51and Brian Moore and Jimmy stoked them up.
0:21:51 > 0:21:52Jimmy said to me,
0:21:52 > 0:21:57"Brian, I wonder if you fancy climbing a mountain with me."
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Now, I found that irresistible.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01He said, "I want you to be a commentator,"
0:22:01 > 0:22:03that we would have a panel with a difference.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05We wanted one or two extroverts.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07Jimmy had thought about this, and he thought,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10well, I can get all these really good managers and nice blokes
0:22:10 > 0:22:13and they'd all sit there and they'd all agree with each other.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16He said, so I'll get these three or four blokes who are full of angst,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18some of them probably didn't like each other,
0:22:18 > 0:22:20one or two were slightly arrogant,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22and it was absolutely fantastic telly.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25MUSIC: The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy
0:22:35 > 0:22:38The clan, as we used to call them. They were marvellous.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39And they were so successful.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42MUSIC CONTINUES
0:22:42 > 0:22:46I think Derek Dougan was quite prevalent, Cloughie...
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Paddy Crerand might have been on there.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50Tactically, we're better.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52But as a team to watch, we're a complete bore.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55But why are we technically better in Europe?
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Because we play against peasant teams who play in primitive ways.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Germany and Italy... play with a bloody sweeper!
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Malcolm, we've had a lot of letters.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06You'll get the yellow card in a minute from Romanians and Hungarians.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09I'll tell you what, Jim. I couldn't care less tonight.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Dear Mal Allison, who's only got one lung,
0:23:13 > 0:23:15he loved his champagne.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17They all loved champagne.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22We haven't cleaned up in Europe because they don't know how to play!
0:23:22 > 0:23:25It was fun to be with them, because they enlivened everything so much.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27And Jimmy in the middle of it all.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31- You mean peasants in that respect, in the football term?- Yeah. - We'll make that quite clear.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33Everybody was arguing, and there was pandemonium, really.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37He'd give a red card to anyone that didn't behave themselves!
0:23:37 > 0:23:38Or went too far.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40They go and play with a sweeper system.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42This is why we won in Europe.
0:23:42 > 0:23:43The red card, Malcolm.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46No-one had ever seen a red card before, and it was brilliant!
0:23:50 > 0:23:54The time I really got to know him was in 1973, when all of a sudden,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57David Coleman ceased to introduce Match Of The Day
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and they brought Jimmy in from London Weekend.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03He was a star on ITV, and he came across to the BBC
0:24:03 > 0:24:05and became a bigger star.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07But in front of the nation.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10MATCH OF THE DAY THEME PLAYS
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Jimmy, of course, has made his name as an analyst
0:24:13 > 0:24:15rather than as a presenter.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17But he now sort of almost did both in one go.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21The thing about Jimmy was, he was so incredibly versatile.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23If you gave him something to do,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25or you told him something perhaps he couldn't do,
0:24:25 > 0:24:27"Oh, I can do that!"
0:24:27 > 0:24:29He would immediately find a way
0:24:29 > 0:24:32of getting around that particular issue, which he did.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Well, good evening, and welcome to Match Of The Day
0:24:38 > 0:24:40for the start of the 1973-1974 season,
0:24:40 > 0:24:42a vital season for English football,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44as England, Scotland and Wales
0:24:44 > 0:24:46desperately fight to qualify for the World Cup.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48He looked different,
0:24:48 > 0:24:50he had lots of energy and enthusiasm.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53And he presented Match Of The Day which, at the time,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56was getting 10 million, 12 million people every week.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Jimmy was very famous.
0:24:58 > 0:24:59Yeah, he's buzzing, Jim, of course.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02He started off where he left off last season.
0:25:02 > 0:25:03Keep your eye on him.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06MUSIC: Jimmy Jimmy by The Undertones
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Jimmy Hill's the biggest star connected with Match Of The Day.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11He was there for the longest period.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14It sort of all revolved around him. It was his show.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16I would say he was the biggest fish in it.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Those of you who have white cards,
0:25:18 > 0:25:23when I say, "Three, two, one, up," they'll all go up.
0:25:23 > 0:25:24And...up!
0:25:28 > 0:25:29Terrific.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34I think that's pretty conclusive.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41He used to walk into the studio invariably late
0:25:41 > 0:25:44because wherever he had been round the country at a Match Of The Day,
0:25:44 > 0:25:48he used to go straight back to Notting Hill for dinner.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51He had a pipe, and that's when you could smoke in the studios.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54And he had all the newspapers from the Sunday morning
0:25:54 > 0:25:56and he used to pick up a newspaper and say,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00"Right, let's have a look and see what I said tomorrow."
0:26:00 > 0:26:02And that got everybody going.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06Jimmy had an excellent command of the English language,
0:26:06 > 0:26:07and a lot of times
0:26:07 > 0:26:10the football community can get their words wrong,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14you know, and the names wrong and the sentences wrong,
0:26:14 > 0:26:15but never Jimmy.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Jimmy, whether it was off-screen or on-screen...
0:26:18 > 0:26:21I admired him for that as well, because it's live television.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24- Jimmy was like, just there. - HE SNAPS FINGERS
0:26:24 > 0:26:25You know, hit it.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Camera goes on him and he was off and running.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30- Cue Jimmy.- Good evening, and welcome to Match Of The Day
0:26:30 > 0:26:32on the last Saturday of the football league season.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35..And a commentator speaks for 90 minutes,
0:26:35 > 0:26:36of which only 30 gets on the air.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Sometimes, that may unbalance the view you get of his commentary.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42So, today, for the first time in television history,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45we're getting a commentator to evaluate his own performance.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47- Barry Davies... - Well, it's funny, Jim,
0:26:47 > 0:26:49people always say to you before a match,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52I suppose to all commentators, "Give us a good report."
0:26:52 > 0:26:54And I always say, "It's what happens down there, not what I say."
0:26:54 > 0:26:57He was great company. Great company.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00You struggled a bit to get a word in sideways, but he was great company.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03..From the commentator, and thank you very much for that,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05maybe the viewers will understand a bit more
0:27:05 > 0:27:07the commentator's point of view in the future.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09I remember one time,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12he used to kind of do the presenting and the analysis,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14which is truly remarkable, really.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Ask yourself a question! He'd do this analysis bit.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20As far as I can see, they're fulfilling their promise to attack more
0:27:20 > 0:27:21and are creating chances.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24But for a variety of reasons, they're not converting them.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26I think we could have probably stuck with that
0:27:26 > 0:27:28and got rid of all these pundits
0:27:28 > 0:27:30and just make it that the presenter does it.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33But only Jimmy would come up with that,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35and it was unquestionably his idea.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38That's a talent, you know, and it really is a talent.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42The presenting in itself is a serious talent,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44and the way he could switch and adapt
0:27:44 > 0:27:48from being a pundit and giving his views...
0:27:48 > 0:27:52to presenting, but still giving his views!
0:27:52 > 0:27:55- BLARING IN BACKGROUND - Before we leave that match, I think you'd enjoy a moment's fun,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58and it occurred at the end of Ron Saunders' interview
0:27:58 > 0:28:00with Alan Parry at Villa Park.
0:28:00 > 0:28:01Sorry about the noise.
0:28:01 > 0:28:07Brilliant, but then Jimmy was brilliant in ridiculous situations.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10It was raining all night here, and it's been raining all day.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12And, indeed, we've had a little bit of a problem
0:28:12 > 0:28:15inside our hut here today, haven't we, Jim?
0:28:15 > 0:28:16- Yes.- But I believe the BBC brains,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18the technical boys, have got onto it.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Well, yes. Tomorrow's World have got an idea, I understand.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23LAUGHTER
0:28:23 > 0:28:26How many times have you been in and out with that bucket now?
0:28:26 > 0:28:27Stand by, Jimmy.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30What's happening now, then? Play the music!
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Good evening, and welcome to a very busy Match Of The Day.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Welcome back to Match Of The Day and to football league action.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Sensational, wasn't it?
0:28:42 > 0:28:44For the fanatical support of their fans alone,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47a neutral would surely select this game as the perfect Cup Final.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50Your commentator - John Motson.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52I was a bit in awe of him at first,
0:28:52 > 0:28:54cos when I started doing the Cup Final,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57he was already a huge personality.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00But he was extremely nice in the sense that,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04because he was so aware, in the nicest possible way,
0:29:04 > 0:29:06of his own sort of personality,
0:29:06 > 0:29:09a lot of people would want to talk to him
0:29:09 > 0:29:10about all sorts of different things,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13and it could have been quite irritating.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15But he always found time to stop...
0:29:15 > 0:29:19And, obviously, he stopped to espouse the Jimmy Hill view.
0:29:19 > 0:29:20You had to live with that.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22He could certainly tell a story.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24He was a frustrated toff, I think.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28He liked fine food and he liked nice tableware
0:29:28 > 0:29:29and proper knives and forks
0:29:29 > 0:29:32and riding to the hunt and, "Hello, hello!"
0:29:32 > 0:29:34A little stirrup cup.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36He was out of his time in many ways!
0:29:39 > 0:29:43I can remember going to a match in London, and it was in the '70s.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45It was Liverpool-Arsenal.
0:29:45 > 0:29:4920 minutes into the game, the linesman was injured.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53And who should the emergency linesman be? Jimmy Hill.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55The man who's put referees and linesmen
0:29:55 > 0:29:57under the spotlight for so long
0:29:57 > 0:30:01now is truly under the spotlight himself, and the crowd know it.
0:30:02 > 0:30:03The whole Kop went,
0:30:03 > 0:30:08# He's here, he's there # He's every...where, Jimmy Hill! #
0:30:08 > 0:30:09Can you imagine, these days?
0:30:09 > 0:30:12And he was the linesman for the rest of the game.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15And Jimmy really turned that round...
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Oh, hold on, Jimmy, hold on!
0:30:18 > 0:30:22Nobody in my world of sport has been a bigger doer, go-getter,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25nice person, than Jimmy.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28He rode to the hounds. Not fashionable with some.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30He was a good horseman.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34Jimmy Hill is a man of action. He needs to be fit.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36There's not much talk of football among the hunting folk,
0:30:36 > 0:30:38so he gets away from it all
0:30:38 > 0:30:42when he joins the North Warwickshire in the field. He does it well.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47There was one occasion he was in this hunt
0:30:47 > 0:30:48and he was running along,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51trotting along on his horse with about two or three ladies with him,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55and so he reined his horse back so the ladies could go first
0:30:55 > 0:30:59and, as they went through, Jimmy's horse farted!
0:30:59 > 0:31:01HE LAUGHS
0:31:01 > 0:31:03So, he said, "I'm terribly sorry."
0:31:03 > 0:31:06And she said, "I thought it was the horse!"
0:31:07 > 0:31:10What I really want to know is are you as sick as a parrot?
0:31:10 > 0:31:11I'm what they call OTM -
0:31:11 > 0:31:15over the moon and all the bloody fences!
0:31:15 > 0:31:18Come on, come on!
0:31:18 > 0:31:22He was a nine-handicap golfer. He was a dancer.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25He wasn't a great singer, but he loved to lead a sing-song.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27He and Gracie Fields, bless her,
0:31:27 > 0:31:30they would have got on like a house on fire.
0:31:30 > 0:31:31Or even Dolly Parton.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Steady! Steady, boy!
0:31:33 > 0:31:37He didn't do steady when it came to himself, not really.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39He was too busy talking.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42You stop the goalkeeper coming up one way and, in the end,
0:31:42 > 0:31:43he makes him kick it off his weak foot.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45- See, he makes the goalkeeper... - Oh, I see that!
0:31:45 > 0:31:47They're mostly right-footed, players.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49I didn't understand that strategy, but, see,
0:31:49 > 0:31:52that shows you you have to have brains, doesn't it?
0:31:52 > 0:31:53Cos it is an exciting thing.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55If the women knew what the hell they were doing,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58they'd be down here watching this game and enjoying it,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01watching all these lovely men doing wonderful athletic things.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08I think she's wonderful, don't you? I think all the girls are wonderful.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11There were three or four different ladies in his lifespan
0:32:11 > 0:32:15and everything else, but that was JH.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20I just have to shrug my shoulders and smile. I can't say any more!
0:32:26 > 0:32:29He married three times,
0:32:29 > 0:32:31had five children -
0:32:31 > 0:32:34Jamie is the youngest.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37He was always on the run, Dad.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Well, you name it - from having Bruce Forsyth on holiday
0:32:39 > 0:32:44to getting to see some fantastic football. It came with benefits.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47The strangest thing was, when he wasn't at home,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50I had a big cardboard cut-out of him,
0:32:50 > 0:32:55life-size, in the room, which was almost like having him on telly.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57I guess the thing I can say is that when I went to school
0:32:57 > 0:33:01people always knew who I was because your dad was on telly.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06The man on the telly went back to Coventry as a director
0:33:06 > 0:33:07and started recruiting.
0:33:08 > 0:33:13Terry Yorath, for example - head-hunting the Jimmy Hill way.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17Jimmy arranged to meet my dad in a service station.
0:33:17 > 0:33:18It was supposed to be a secret meeting.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20My dad pulled in to the service station
0:33:20 > 0:33:21and a white Jaguar pulled in
0:33:21 > 0:33:23and he couldn't see Jimmy Hill in the car
0:33:23 > 0:33:25and he thought, "This is all very strange."
0:33:25 > 0:33:27It was all very cloak-and-dagger.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31And then, slowly, the boot opened and Jimmy Hill got out of the boot,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35and he'd been hiding in the boot all the way to the service station.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38He was so paranoid about being seen approaching a player
0:33:38 > 0:33:41that potentially he shouldn't have been talking to at that time.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47My dad was either managing director or chairman
0:33:47 > 0:33:49come back to help out Coventry.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51The big signing was Terry Yorath.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54It was all secret, so he came to the house.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57But part of the deal was that Terry's wife, Christine,
0:33:57 > 0:34:02wanted the house, so we moved round the corner to Fairlands Park
0:34:02 > 0:34:05and the Yoraths were given
0:34:05 > 0:34:0819 Cannon Hill Road as part of the deal.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11So, when we moved into Jimmy Hill's house,
0:34:11 > 0:34:16they had a dog called Sally, who was a tiny little miniature poodle.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19She didn't want to leave the house so when they moved up the road,
0:34:19 > 0:34:21she kept coming back and visiting the house,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23and eventually we adopted her, to the point where,
0:34:23 > 0:34:24when we moved to Vancouver Whitecaps,
0:34:24 > 0:34:26she then got moved to my grandparents
0:34:26 > 0:34:29and then they looked after her for the rest of her days.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31So, yeah, Jimmy Hill's Dog -
0:34:31 > 0:34:33it was a nice house-warming gift, to get a dog with the house!
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Yeah, fond memories.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40We spent a lot of time in the garden kicking a ball around.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43This is the only house that's been altered or split.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45The neighbours' house is still exactly the same.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47Yeah, it's remarkably untouched.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51I was five years old and we moved into Jimmy Hill's house
0:34:51 > 0:34:54because he bought my dad at a club.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56To me, you know, as a kid, he was my dad's boss.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00It was later on in life I learned that he was a lot more
0:35:00 > 0:35:02than just the chairman of Coventry City.
0:35:04 > 0:35:05Have you booked your seat yet?
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Enjoy all the thrills of First Division football
0:35:08 > 0:35:11in comfort and safety from your very own seat
0:35:11 > 0:35:14at the new Coventry City all-seater stadium.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16Call the Sky Blue Link Line.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18- BUZZING - Coventry City?
0:35:18 > 0:35:21Yes, we have. We've got plenty of tickets for this evening.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23When Jim came back to Coventry in the mid-'70s,
0:35:23 > 0:35:27perhaps that little knack of knowing what the public wanted
0:35:27 > 0:35:29had kind of diminished a bit
0:35:29 > 0:35:31and then the all-seater stadium at the start
0:35:31 > 0:35:33wasn't the biggest success in the world.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36We lost probably about 25% of the fanbase
0:35:36 > 0:35:39that we had that really didn't come back.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41That period was very difficult, I think, in Coventry's time
0:35:41 > 0:35:43and he just wanted to be on board to see
0:35:43 > 0:35:46if he could change their fortunes again in as much as he could
0:35:46 > 0:35:48with his broadcasting career and everything else.
0:35:48 > 0:35:53More details have emerged about the rebel football tour of South Africa.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55Today, Jimmy Hill, chairman of Coventry City...
0:35:55 > 0:35:58The magic touch seemed to have deserted him.
0:35:58 > 0:35:59He had to apologise for his part
0:35:59 > 0:36:01in leading the rebel tour to South Africa.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06So many ideas, but not all of them brilliant.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09He was a visionary.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13He took the game to the Americas, took it to the Middle East.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17Jimmy and the club made the mistake of going into America
0:36:17 > 0:36:22and lost money, but 99% of Jimmy's ideas did go well
0:36:22 > 0:36:26and were hugely successful.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28I think it was Jimmy, more than anybody else,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30who got the three points for a win.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32Because it had to be passed by committees
0:36:32 > 0:36:35and all this type of thing, but I think it was Jimmy that said,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37"Oh, that would make the game a lot more entertaining,"
0:36:37 > 0:36:42and he was absolutely right because, suddenly, teams weren't always
0:36:42 > 0:36:44playing for a draw, they were playing for TWO extra points.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Everyone was saying, "Why? The game's good enough."
0:36:47 > 0:36:50"No, no, if you keep drawing, you're not going to get any excitement.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55"You're not going to get anything at all for what football needs today."
0:36:55 > 0:36:58He got his way, and it became like it is today -
0:36:58 > 0:37:00three points for a win and one for a draw.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04And that was Jimmy Hill - he did that, he did that himself.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07He pushed and pushed and pushed until it was done.
0:37:07 > 0:37:13Jimmy was a very, very good man to have on a committee, in my opinion,
0:37:13 > 0:37:17because he was inquiring, he asked questions, he saw things.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20He saw reasons why you COULD do things,
0:37:20 > 0:37:23not reasons why you couldn't do things.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26I saw this ad in the paper, which said,
0:37:26 > 0:37:31"BBC TV sports personality with dog seeks super-efficient PA."
0:37:31 > 0:37:36Well, I can't type, I don't know anything about sport,
0:37:36 > 0:37:37but I do love dogs,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40so I rang the agency and said, "Who is it for?"
0:37:40 > 0:37:43They said, "Oh, it's Jimmy Hill." I said, "Sorry?"
0:37:43 > 0:37:46"Jimmy Hill, you know - beard, football, whatever."
0:37:46 > 0:37:48And I thought, "Well, I need the work."
0:37:48 > 0:37:51He was sitting in his office, busy on the phone,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53I think it was to Elton John - name-drop, name-drop!
0:37:53 > 0:37:56He was charming and lovely and charismatic
0:37:56 > 0:37:59and much taller than I thought he was going to be -
0:37:59 > 0:38:02he was six foot tall, cos you only see this much on television.
0:38:02 > 0:38:08And I'm very pleased I was given the job. He worked round my limitations!
0:38:08 > 0:38:11The rest is history, as it were.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14There was always this sense that - how to put it -
0:38:14 > 0:38:16upheaval was never far away.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19It came next in his television career
0:38:19 > 0:38:21when he was moved out of the presenter's chair.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23Not that he went far.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25Well, Jimmy will be running his experienced football eye
0:38:25 > 0:38:28over tonight's matches as he will throughout this cup season
0:38:28 > 0:38:31and passing a comment or two...or three.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33I've got a different style to Jimmy.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Everybody's got a different style to Jimmy!
0:38:35 > 0:38:37And he's also looking after my cough mixture. Right, Jim?
0:38:37 > 0:38:40- Large or small one?- No ice.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42Obviously, Jimmy was actually a presenter himself,
0:38:42 > 0:38:45but when Des came in, Des had that kind of charm, didn't he,
0:38:45 > 0:38:47and I think he could bring out the best in Jimmy
0:38:47 > 0:38:49and bring out the cheeky side in Jimmy.
0:38:49 > 0:38:55I think Jimmy was one of those pundits that would make you think.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58You'd either massively disagree with him,
0:38:58 > 0:39:00or categorically agree with him.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02There was no middle ground with Jimmy.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04He lifted his foot up and let the ball come
0:39:04 > 0:39:06so he dummied his own goalkeeper.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09He wouldn't have let that go on purpose there, Jim. There's no...
0:39:09 > 0:39:12- You saw it as well as I did. - No, but I don't think he let it go.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15People used to say, "Cor, that was great last night!
0:39:15 > 0:39:16"You don't like him, do you?"
0:39:16 > 0:39:18You'd get in the taxis and the cab driver would say,
0:39:18 > 0:39:20"You don't like Jimmy Hill, do you?"
0:39:20 > 0:39:22I said, "Yes, I do. I do like Jimmy Hill."
0:39:22 > 0:39:24He's not going to let it go. He misjudged it.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27What is taking your foot out of the way a bit, then?
0:39:27 > 0:39:28No, I don't think he did.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31I said, "I'm not having anyone say anything about him," sort of thing,
0:39:31 > 0:39:32so he said, "Do you really?"
0:39:32 > 0:39:34I said, "No, I don't like him. You're right."
0:39:34 > 0:39:38He said, "I told you you didn't like him!" So, it got me in the end.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41Terry, of course, worked with Jimmy on the England games
0:39:41 > 0:39:42and they were quite friendly,
0:39:42 > 0:39:46and Jimmy was demonstrating how a particular player
0:39:46 > 0:39:49had done something, and Terry was nudging me and laughing,
0:39:49 > 0:39:52cos Jimmy was saying, "Well, you do it that way
0:39:52 > 0:39:53"and I could have done that!"
0:39:53 > 0:39:56Meaning that what the player had done wasn't that remarkable.
0:39:56 > 0:39:57"I could have done that!"
0:39:57 > 0:39:59And all the way home and for years later,
0:39:59 > 0:40:00Terry Venables used to say,
0:40:00 > 0:40:02"Do you remember that time we were at Fulham
0:40:02 > 0:40:06"and Jimmy was telling us, 'I could have done that'?"
0:40:06 > 0:40:09And if you put your arm up, you risk having a penalty.
0:40:09 > 0:40:10If I had been the manager...
0:40:10 > 0:40:13And all of a sudden, with Gascoigne looking
0:40:13 > 0:40:15as if he'd been rejuvenated...
0:40:15 > 0:40:17He had an opinion.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20And damn right, he had one!
0:40:21 > 0:40:23I'm very happy about that.
0:40:23 > 0:40:24Nevertheless, it is a foul.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26The attention is to the ball.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29'For me, it was also the first stages of being a pundit -'
0:40:29 > 0:40:33at least to have an argument about things...that was good.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Liverpool played Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup third round
0:40:39 > 0:40:41at Ewood Park.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43Yesterday we certainly had the let-off of the season,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and perhaps any other season, with Liverpool just escaping
0:40:46 > 0:40:47and staying in the cup.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50And Liverpool equalised in the last minute,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53because the ball boy, as it would seem, Blackburn ball boy,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56had been kind enough to throw the ball back quickly.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58So Jez just throws into the air.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00"Did you spot anything yesterday, Jimmy,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02"that might have caught people's eye?"
0:41:02 > 0:41:04"What about the ball boy at Ewood Park?"
0:41:04 > 0:41:06This was the goal.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09The point that I picked up was the alertness of a ball boy
0:41:09 > 0:41:12and the fact that, really, his naivety...
0:41:12 > 0:41:13And when this ball goes out,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16and Blackburn Rovers are under pressure,
0:41:16 > 0:41:17just watching the moment,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21the ball boy - it is a ball girl, in fact - doing her duty,
0:41:21 > 0:41:23picks it up, gives it back quickly,
0:41:23 > 0:41:24before Rovers can recover.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27They're still trying to get back in position.
0:41:27 > 0:41:28She was doing her job very well.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31She's not part of the tactics of the game.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33That's how near Liverpool were to being out.
0:41:33 > 0:41:34It were a bit like...
0:41:34 > 0:41:37it hadn't sunk in, sort of thing.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39It can't be me, really,
0:41:39 > 0:41:41until I'd seen everybody out on the street
0:41:41 > 0:41:43and everybody else had seen Match Of The Day.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45You said if she threw the ball back
0:41:45 > 0:41:48and they were not able to get back...
0:41:48 > 0:41:49They were perfectly placed
0:41:49 > 0:41:52- and you normally would deal with that...- What went wrong, then?
0:41:52 > 0:41:55I went to school and every lad in the school year
0:41:55 > 0:41:57followed me all the way around.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00"She's here, she's here!" "You shouldn't have done that!"
0:42:00 > 0:42:02I got a phone call at school,
0:42:02 > 0:42:04where my parents had to come and pick me up
0:42:04 > 0:42:09and take me to Ewood Park, because it obviously had hit the press...
0:42:09 > 0:42:12and that's when it all sort of hit home as well.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15So now, Jimmy has got us on the front page of every newspaper
0:42:15 > 0:42:16on the Monday.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19"You're a telly twit, Jimmy!"
0:42:19 > 0:42:23I think he got more name-calling than me!
0:42:23 > 0:42:25"Hill climbs down." That's where he's admitted
0:42:25 > 0:42:28that he's gone a bit far and apologised.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30"Ball girl Gillian Maynard won a special award
0:42:30 > 0:42:33"for her honesty and a big apology."
0:42:33 > 0:42:36He was supposed to turn up on the Monday evening to do the live match.
0:42:36 > 0:42:37He turns up late.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Why does he turn up late? Because he's found the address
0:42:41 > 0:42:44of the little girl and said sorry.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46And that is Jimmy.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49I remember, I was at Norwich and...
0:42:49 > 0:42:51it was Cantona,
0:42:51 > 0:42:53and I think Jimmy had called the tackle despicable,
0:42:53 > 0:42:55which it probably was.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58MUSIC: Bloody Well Right by Supertramp
0:42:58 > 0:43:00Alex called him a prat.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02And...
0:43:02 > 0:43:03Jimmy would have loved it!
0:43:03 > 0:43:06It was Jimmy back in the headlines again.
0:43:06 > 0:43:07He loved being in the headlines.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10Jimmy just adored being in the headlines.
0:43:10 > 0:43:11Mr Ferguson, as he was then,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14afterwards was very generous in his apology to Jimmy.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16And Jimmy was equally gracious
0:43:16 > 0:43:18in his acceptance of the apology and said,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21"Let's finish that bottle of whisky when we next meet."
0:43:21 > 0:43:23If you had an incident like that
0:43:23 > 0:43:26then, the next time, he'd have a spring in his step
0:43:26 > 0:43:29and he'd be coming up with the next idea, the next big idea,
0:43:29 > 0:43:31and what he was going to say
0:43:31 > 0:43:33and how he'd get the public on his side.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35It would have to be Lynam that would have to rein him in.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38Des Lynam was the only one that could rein Jimmy in.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41He was easiest of all the pundits to work with, in the sense
0:43:41 > 0:43:44that he was going to fill up lots of time - he had lots of opinions.
0:43:44 > 0:43:46The biggest problem with Jimmy was shutting him up!
0:43:46 > 0:43:49Jimmy Hill - see-all, hear-all and know-all.
0:43:49 > 0:43:50LAUGHTER
0:43:50 > 0:43:54An expert on this, an expert on that, and an expert on the other.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56I always felt, we've got lot of nice guys,
0:43:56 > 0:43:58we need a little bit of a villain in there.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01Who said, "I am the greatest, I am the best"?
0:44:01 > 0:44:02BELL
0:44:02 > 0:44:06I think it was me, and even if it wasn't, it should have been.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Des would occasionally come out of the hut
0:44:09 > 0:44:11that was built at the back of the stand as a presentation studio
0:44:11 > 0:44:13and the crowd would cheer,
0:44:13 > 0:44:16and then Jimmy would come out to get some fresh air
0:44:16 > 0:44:18and they'd boo. It was like one of those weather things
0:44:18 > 0:44:20that went like this.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Big cheer for Des, big boo for Jimmy.
0:44:23 > 0:44:24And Jimmy didn't mind.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27# Are you watching Are you watching
0:44:27 > 0:44:29# Are you watching, Jimmy Hill? #
0:44:29 > 0:44:31I remember him saying about the Irish team,
0:44:31 > 0:44:34"I think we're just going to the Euros to make up the numbers,"
0:44:34 > 0:44:37which, of course, they took great delight in proving him, and rightly,
0:44:37 > 0:44:39that he was wrong.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41# Are you watching, Jimmy Hill? #
0:44:41 > 0:44:43He instigated conversation and debate
0:44:43 > 0:44:45with his views and his statements,
0:44:45 > 0:44:47and he had a brilliant relationship
0:44:47 > 0:44:49with, particularly, the Scottish football fans.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51I think we all remember Jimmy Hill
0:44:51 > 0:44:54and the David Narey "toe poke", as he called it,
0:44:54 > 0:44:56which upset the Scots somewhat.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58Toe poke!
0:44:58 > 0:44:59Absolutely!
0:45:01 > 0:45:02I mean...
0:45:02 > 0:45:04This is Souness. Looks for Wark.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Narey is coming through from right-back.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09'Yes, Narey had hit an absolute bullet
0:45:09 > 0:45:11'from about 30 yards or something.'
0:45:11 > 0:45:14Jimmy described it as a toe poke!
0:45:14 > 0:45:15But that was classic Jimmy.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18He'd just do something slightly provocative.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22Which drove... Which drove the Tartan Army beyond despair!
0:45:22 > 0:45:24They were going crazy!
0:45:24 > 0:45:28This Braveheart, who was about six foot two,
0:45:28 > 0:45:31wearing a kilt and a sporran, the whole dress, said...
0:45:31 > 0:45:34- "BLEEP- toe poke, was it, Jimmy?"
0:45:34 > 0:45:39And Jimmy went, "Well," he said, taking the pipe out of the mouth,
0:45:39 > 0:45:43"when I was playing, you see, a toe poke was a skill.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45"Let's have a drink."
0:45:45 > 0:45:49'He persuaded them that toe poke - that was an old-fashioned view
0:45:49 > 0:45:50'of how he actually hit the ball.'
0:45:50 > 0:45:52That was Jimmy.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54I sat there with Jimmy and Jimmy did qualify it,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57and he did say it was certainly one of the greatest toe pokes
0:45:57 > 0:46:00that he'd ever seen!
0:46:00 > 0:46:02I mean, he always used to wear that bow tie,
0:46:02 > 0:46:04and sometimes an England bow tie,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07and that used to get up the Scots fans' nose a bit.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09But he didn't bother about that.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11He probably quite enjoyed
0:46:11 > 0:46:13the bit of heckling he got from the Scottish fans, I suppose.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16I've got my hand on my heart -
0:46:16 > 0:46:19I can remember singing songs about Jimmy Hill, you know.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22One song for Bobby Moore, maybe two for Bally,
0:46:22 > 0:46:24about eight for Jimmy! And we used to sing...
0:46:24 > 0:46:26# We hate Jimmy Hill! He's a... #
0:46:26 > 0:46:28HE HUMS
0:46:28 > 0:46:29# He's a...
0:46:29 > 0:46:30# We hate... #
0:46:30 > 0:46:34And that used to go on relentlessly for about 20 minutes in each half.
0:46:34 > 0:46:38But, as I say, it was all done in great taste and Jimmy loved it!
0:46:38 > 0:46:41The Scottish fans...
0:46:41 > 0:46:43He says, "When I go to Scotland, they're always great."
0:46:43 > 0:46:45I said, "That's the Scots people.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48"If you go up there and you're on your own, they'll be great to you.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51"Try getting off the bus at Hampden and see how you are treated."
0:46:51 > 0:46:53MUSIC: Jimmy Jimmy by The Undertones
0:46:57 > 0:46:59It didn't matter if people hated him,
0:46:59 > 0:47:02because he felt that was recognition.
0:47:02 > 0:47:07You know? "Love me or hate me. But don't ignore me."
0:47:07 > 0:47:09If he'd allowed McManaman a freer role in the centre,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12he'd have opened up his options for Fowler,
0:47:12 > 0:47:14because Fowler was in the best position...
0:47:14 > 0:47:16Jimmy, be quiet, will you?
0:47:17 > 0:47:19EXPLOSION
0:47:21 > 0:47:23# Jimmy Jimmy... #
0:47:23 > 0:47:27Also, Collymore could break through the Spurs defence.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30THEY LAUGH
0:47:30 > 0:47:32- WOMAN:- 'Stop recording.'
0:47:35 > 0:47:39You won't get it better than that if we did it 109 times.
0:47:41 > 0:47:42# Jimmy Jimmy
0:47:44 > 0:47:47# Jimmy Jimmy... #
0:47:47 > 0:47:51You know, he was forever getting scripts autographed,
0:47:51 > 0:47:53balls autographed, shirts autographed.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55He'd have an auction for this, an auction for that -
0:47:55 > 0:47:58he'd do the auction for this or he'd do other auction for that.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00Jimmy was in demand, but Jimmy was a very kind-hearted man
0:48:00 > 0:48:03so he'd turn up for everything.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06Oh, it was boundless. It was hard work keeping up with him sometimes,
0:48:06 > 0:48:08because it wasn't just one event during the day.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10Sometimes it would be two or three. And more.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13If he was asked to do something, he'd look in his diary and say,
0:48:13 > 0:48:16"OK, I think I can do you between so-and-so and so-and-so."
0:48:16 > 0:48:19Off he'd steam with the appropriate paperwork or clothes and things
0:48:19 > 0:48:21and he'd do that. He just couldn't say no.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23He was very generous with his time.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26- Are you nervous?- Yeah. - I thought you were.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28I have never done anything like this before.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30What, you mean, sat as close as this in the car?
0:48:30 > 0:48:32- No, given away £5,000.- I know.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36"Sir, may I present on behalf of the gold-diggers, sir,
0:48:36 > 0:48:37"a cheque for £5,000?"
0:48:37 > 0:48:40The only maddening thing is you've got to dish it out!
0:48:40 > 0:48:42- Yes.- There's a badge that goes with it.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44- This is...- It's unusual. GD?
0:48:44 > 0:48:47- GD.- Gold-digger.- Gimmy Dill.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49Gimmy Dill?! I like that.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52- Thank you very much for coming along.- Thank you.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54- Well, I thought that was great. - I enjoyed that.- Lovely place.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57- Isn't it?- Beautiful place. I've had worse gigs than this.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59- Yes, yes.- I'll tell you.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01'Now that we've discussed entertainment for a moment,'
0:49:01 > 0:49:04what about changing place with Edward Heath
0:49:04 > 0:49:05and running the country?
0:49:05 > 0:49:09I will, when I have finished with Saudi Arabia,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12Coventry City and BBC Sport.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15I did learn a lot off him. Um...
0:49:15 > 0:49:17The one big thing is,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19you can be dramatically right or dramatically wrong.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22Don't be mundane and be in the middle, because that doesn't work.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Jimmy is interesting, because the public loved and hated him
0:49:25 > 0:49:27in equal measure, I think,
0:49:27 > 0:49:29but they hated him with a sense of friendliness.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31And I remember telling him one day
0:49:31 > 0:49:37that there'd been a newspaper survey and he had finished top, first,
0:49:37 > 0:49:39as the most favourite sports presenter in the country.
0:49:39 > 0:49:41He was absolutely delighted. "Lovely."
0:49:41 > 0:49:44I said, "There's a bit of bad news as well, Jim,
0:49:44 > 0:49:46"because you've also finished
0:49:46 > 0:49:48"least favourite sports presenter first."
0:49:48 > 0:49:50He said, "Lovely as well.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53"The place not to finish is in the middle of those bloody things!"
0:49:53 > 0:49:55And he was right! He was right.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Yes, I remember this great debate
0:49:57 > 0:49:59when the Romanian team dyed their hair
0:49:59 > 0:50:02so they were all blonde.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06And Jimmy had a theory that this actually was to their advantage.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09- Do you know, that is not an idiotic idea, I don't think.- What?
0:50:09 > 0:50:12- For them all to go blonde? - I mean...
0:50:12 > 0:50:14Just listen. Just listen.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17The other members of the panel were almost in hysterics,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19but it was a point of view.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23You need a bright shirt to pass to, and your vision is that much better,
0:50:23 > 0:50:25- right? And a light head... - LAUGHTER
0:50:25 > 0:50:28A light head... You can laugh as much as you like.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32You couldn't knock him down with a demolition ball, honestly.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36He was irrepressible with a capital I.
0:50:36 > 0:50:37A fantastic character.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40Flicked glance, you see a head and lay the ball to it.
0:50:40 > 0:50:45- Brilliant!- The tiniest 1% advantage in this game gives you a result.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47He knew what he was doing, Jimmy.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51Jimmy was a very, very clever man, as I say, and a very likeable man.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54Football people were critical of him.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58The fans were critical of him, and sometimes dismissive of him.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01But I would think they laughed with him more than at him.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04The '98 World Cup was the one, really,
0:51:04 > 0:51:07where people thought, "Goodness me, he's been going for ages,
0:51:07 > 0:51:09"do you think perhaps now is the time?"
0:51:09 > 0:51:11Cos, of course, it was 30 years
0:51:11 > 0:51:14since he had started with Brian Moore on The Big Match.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17We had a really special time, particularly in France '98.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20He hated missing anything, whether it was a half of lager,
0:51:20 > 0:51:23or a conversation, or a game of golf, a chat about football,
0:51:23 > 0:51:24a lunch, dinner -
0:51:24 > 0:51:27Jimmy was the first name on the list and that was the way he wanted it.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30You know, he hated - he hated - not being in the gang.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33People used to come up to him in the street and say,
0:51:33 > 0:51:34"You look younger in real life."
0:51:34 > 0:51:37He said, "You must have a very old television!"
0:51:37 > 0:51:39But he was always making fun of himself.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41And I think, you know, he had been in people's living rooms
0:51:41 > 0:51:46for 25 years with Match Of The Day, I think he did, and beyond.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48So, he was part of the wallpaper.
0:51:48 > 0:51:5325 years of night work ended, Jimmy just started again,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56part of the brunch brigade.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00I think what you have to appreciate, when Jimmy Hill joined Sky,
0:52:00 > 0:52:02we were still very much a fledgling company.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05And I'd get a phone call every other day,
0:52:05 > 0:52:09"Oh, Mark, I've got an idea. We can go and do this and we can do that."
0:52:09 > 0:52:14And I think it was that infectious enthusiasm
0:52:14 > 0:52:16that Jimmy, even then, still had in him.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20As a player, Jimmy never had his name taken,
0:52:20 > 0:52:23only Michael Aspel was able to book him.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26Ladies and gentlemen, forgive the interruption.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29I can't reach you very well, but Fulham chairman, a man for all seasons, Jimmy Hill,
0:52:29 > 0:52:33- this is your life. - APPLAUSE
0:52:33 > 0:52:35Irrepressible, indestructible.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39Of course, he couldn't be.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43He was never knowingly wrong, but things could go wrong,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46As they did in the early 1990s.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50I mean, I'm not very comfortable talking about it now, although I want to talk about it,
0:52:50 > 0:52:54cos I want to say to people, "It isn't the end of the world
0:52:54 > 0:52:55"if you get cancer."
0:52:55 > 0:52:57You know, the surgeons are marvellous
0:52:57 > 0:52:59and there is help out there.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02So, you know, get yourself together,
0:53:02 > 0:53:06let them do their stuff and you might win a match or two.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08BOTH LAUGH
0:53:08 > 0:53:11"I'll be back in a week, maybe sooner than you think.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13"The weather for hunting isn't kind,
0:53:13 > 0:53:16"maybe then, I'll change my mind.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20"Thank you for a happy time. In consequence, this little rhyme."
0:53:20 > 0:53:23- HE CHUCKLES - When his time with Coventry finished,
0:53:23 > 0:53:26he would always be aware of what was going on and be very involved.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28He would look at the results every Saturday and Tuesday
0:53:28 > 0:53:30to see how Coventry did before anything,
0:53:30 > 0:53:32before Fulham even and Brentford.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34Of course, he loved his golf, he loved riding.
0:53:34 > 0:53:39It was perfect for him and it was a very happy period in his time.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42Coventry City were changing again,
0:53:42 > 0:53:45they were moving home.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47And Jimmy had to be there.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53The celebration of the wonderful Highfield Road.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55And Jimmy was out there on the pitch,
0:53:55 > 0:53:59that's where he made Jimmy Hill great.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02He made Coventry City great.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06And he watched that game with a tremendous amount of emotion.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09A great celebration, cos we'd won the game.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12But...he was very emotional.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16He knew that it was the end, the closure of Highfield Road.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26A little bit eerie.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28It's sad to think it was once a football ground.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32I'd have been watching from over there,
0:54:32 > 0:54:35and what I always remember about the pitch as a young kid
0:54:35 > 0:54:39is if it got beyond the halfway spot, watching from that side,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42you could only see the players from their knees up
0:54:42 > 0:54:45cos, the pitch, there was always a little bit of a drainage curve on it.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49The away support would have been down there.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52You'd hear the odd choice word. "Jimmy Hill's a..."
0:54:52 > 0:54:55fill in the blank spaces.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59But, yeah, he had very, very thick skin,
0:54:59 > 0:55:02and...you know, was more than able to cope with it.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06And that kind of rubbed off on the family. You just got used to it.
0:55:06 > 0:55:07Yeah, this is the centre circle
0:55:07 > 0:55:10that I used to stare at at the start of every game,
0:55:10 > 0:55:13Mick Ferguson and Ian Wallace kicking off.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16Those are what I'd take from standing here
0:55:16 > 0:55:19more than anything else, those happy times.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22I mean, it's a housing estate, isn't it, now?
0:55:22 > 0:55:24CROWD CHANTS
0:55:29 > 0:55:32Footballers never look back and say,
0:55:32 > 0:55:36thanks very much for something, like, 25 years ago.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38He fought for things that he believed in.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41And, erm, he beat them when it came to the maximum wage.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45And... And a lot of footballers should be thankful for that.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48Players of today have to be grateful
0:55:48 > 0:55:51for that transition from abolishing the maximum wage
0:55:51 > 0:55:56that Jimmy Hill was involved in to where they're standing today,
0:55:56 > 0:55:57very wealthy young men.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Very, very wealthy young men.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03They can raise their hat to that man because of that.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09I don't think there was ever a person in football that I met
0:56:09 > 0:56:12that loved the game more than Jimmy Hill.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16It was just nonstop, relentless, to improve everything about the game,
0:56:16 > 0:56:18on the pitch and off the pitch.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21And there's not many people about like that.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26MAN SHOUTS OUT INDISTINCTLY
0:56:28 > 0:56:31His last public appearance was a tricky one to organise,
0:56:31 > 0:56:36because he was then under the effects of Alzheimer's.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38But you wouldn't have known that
0:56:38 > 0:56:41when the unveiling happened and the crowd started singing.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44And he knew the song, he knew the words,
0:56:44 > 0:56:46and he was cheering and just
0:56:46 > 0:56:48getting the crowd to sing even louder.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52And he was singing at the top of his voice and he was so happy.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55And tears pouring down his face, it was a very emotional time.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00And I'm very... I'm thrilled that that last appearance was in Coventry with the statue,
0:57:00 > 0:57:04because it was a fitting end to his public appearance,
0:57:04 > 0:57:06if you like, his public life.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10- ALL:- # We will never lose
0:57:10 > 0:57:13# They can't defeat us! #
0:57:13 > 0:57:15I did my very best to help,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18and, you know, one or two of the things that I did,
0:57:18 > 0:57:20I've just realised, they're OK!
0:57:20 > 0:57:22HE LAUGHS
0:57:22 > 0:57:24APPLAUSE
0:57:25 > 0:57:28He loved the people, he loved the enthusiasm,
0:57:28 > 0:57:31the gentleness of the people, I think,
0:57:31 > 0:57:33and his heart really was in Coventry, very much so,
0:57:33 > 0:57:35and it always will be.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37In fact, I might do a wobble,
0:57:37 > 0:57:41but I'm taking a few of his ashes up to Coventry
0:57:41 > 0:57:45to be scattered in the memorial garden, so he can be there.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50APPLAUSE
0:57:50 > 0:57:52We're here to reverently place
0:57:52 > 0:57:57the earthly remains of Jimmy Hill in this special place,
0:57:57 > 0:58:00near this home ground for the football club
0:58:00 > 0:58:02and for the city which Jimmy loved.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04APPLAUSE
0:58:08 > 0:58:11You know, it's almost like he's going to walk back in.
0:58:11 > 0:58:12In fact, when we were at the cathedral,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16he was such a powerful personality, you wonder, "Hang on a minute,
0:58:16 > 0:58:20"I'm not finished yet, I'm coming back." But, no, it's a fitting tribute.
0:58:23 > 0:58:26And here he is, still standing.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30The completely one-off Jimmy Hill.
0:58:30 > 0:58:34Gone...but only into football legend.
0:58:34 > 0:58:38I'm sure somebody else has told this story, but my favourite is when...
0:58:38 > 0:58:42You know, I was there that day when the crowd started singing.
0:58:42 > 0:58:46And me, Jim and Des Lynam were inside having a coffee.
0:58:46 > 0:58:50Anyway, Jimmy goes out, in front, "Come on, let's go."
0:58:50 > 0:58:53Me and Des are up, we're hoping that no-one sees us.
0:58:53 > 0:58:56He's up the front, three yards in front of us...
0:58:56 > 0:58:58Mr Hill and I walking around the ground
0:58:58 > 0:59:00and the whole... 30,000 people started chanting
0:59:00 > 0:59:03and not quite in his favour.
0:59:03 > 0:59:04And the chant went...
0:59:04 > 0:59:05# Jimmy Hill, you're a... #
0:59:05 > 0:59:07A banker, or words to that effect.
0:59:07 > 0:59:10- # Jimmy Hill's a... - WHISTLE
0:59:10 > 0:59:13- # Jimmy Hill's a... - WHISTLE
0:59:13 > 0:59:16- Jimmy Hill's a... Jimmy Hill's a... - WHISTLE
0:59:16 > 0:59:20Des, Terry and myself looked anywhere but the Kop,
0:59:20 > 0:59:23Jimmy just put his chin out and said...
0:59:23 > 0:59:25"That's fame for you."
0:59:25 > 0:59:27"Well, that's fame for you."
0:59:27 > 0:59:32"Well, that's fame for you." That was a bit more Bruce Forsyth than Jimmy Hill, but they're similar.
0:59:32 > 0:59:34He said, "See, they love me here."
0:59:34 > 0:59:37He didn't realise they were having a go at him.
0:59:37 > 0:59:41He said, "I may be, but I always get the last laugh."
0:59:41 > 0:59:43HE LAUGHS