Love of the Game

The Man Who Brought the Rooney Rule to the UK

Adrian Durham, Ricky Hill, Ricky with

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785319099
• Year: 2021

Ricky Hill grew up beneath the shadow of Wembley Stadium, where he sold programmes at England games as a boy. When he was seven, he was told by a teacher that only two in every hundred boys could possibly make it as a professional footballer. Ricky told her he would be one of the two. Ten years later, this gifted midfielder scored on his debut for Luton Town. Ricky stayed with Luton for 14 years, made 508 appearances and became a club legend. Emerging at a time when racism was rife, he was only the fourth black player to represent England. Later, as a coach, he had to fight to smash down barriers holding back black managers, and devised an equivalent of the NFL's 'Rooney Rule' to help BAME applicants secure senior coaching jobs in English football. While Ricky has won trophies and awards overseas, he has been overlooked in this country. In Love of the Game, he tells the shocking story behind his short spell in charge of Luton, and reveals just how much the football decision-makers in England have ignored him and other black coaches.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword by Ian Wright
• 1. Joy and Pain of the Game
• 2. In Love with the Game
• 3. How Do I Break Through?
• 4. The New Luton Town Manager
• 5. ‘If You Can’t Play Without Losing, Then Don’t Play At All’
• 6. First-Generation Black Players
• 7. Memories Forever Young
• 8. England and the Big Move That Never Happened
• 9. Loyalty, Then Deceit
• 10. Success Soured in Florida
• 11. The Lack of Black Coaches
• 12. Back in the USA
• 13. Italian Approval
• 14. Happy to be Back
• 15. The Club Needs Fixing
• 16. Rooney Rule
• 17. Title at Tampa
• 18. What They Say About Ricky
• Managerial Career
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography
• Index
• Photos