Jimmy Hill (1928-2015)

Just want to say I met JH in the 60s and 70s, he is a legend and always will be. God bless JH, and RIP. Now sleep tight, you will be sadly missed.

Another legendary history maker for Coventry especially in our house. RIP.

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Jimmy Hill on the radio yesterday as we were on our way to the Ricoh. By the time we got to the stadium, the great man's statue had already been adorned with sky blue scarves and other memorabilia. The tributes before and during the game were fitting for the most influential man in City's history and there was an understandably sombre mood among the older fans in particular. Make no mistake, Jimmy Hill was a giant in football, probably the most influential figure in the game in over 50 years. He should have been running the English game. Coventry City were fortunate to have had him here. Without him the Sky Blue Revolution would simply never have happened. As CCFC club historian Jim Brown, tweeted yesterday, "The greatest Coventry City manager of all time. He changed my life." Mine too, Jim, and thousands of others too. Thanks for the memories, JH.

Would anyone recall who his backroom team would have consisted of? Being around at the time, I don't remember any big change around of players. Do remember that at one point all the players had sky blue Hillman Imps. Went to school with Bobby Gould, we lived in Sewall Highway, his family lived off Torcross Avenue to the left, may have been Forknell Avenue, or very near there, anyway I was on my bike 1 day cycling towards the bottom of Coventry Street, and he was driving in his sky blue Imp in the other direction, by this time he was a well established player, must have been about 20/21, but he was able to wave to me. Even though school was 7/8 years ago and we now clearly mixed in rather different circles. Happy days.

Very sad news indeed. Unfortunately I moved to Coventry too late to see the Sky Blue Revolution. I do remember seeing him on television, I think possibly at Anfield, one of the linesmen had to leave the pitch and JH was either in the crowd or working there and he came on and ran the line for the rest of the match. He had a huge grin on his face and looked like a kid who had been locked in a sweetshop

It was a Division One match at Highbury, between Arsenal and Liverpool, September 1972

Thanks for that MR, I knew Liverpool were one of the teams playing

My first memory of Jimmy Hill is nothing to do with Coventry but he did leave a favourable impression on a little boy. We lived in Leamington Spa and my father took me to St. Andrews to see Birmingham City v Fulham in the old First Division. It must have been in the late 50's because I was not very old. We travelled by train I think and stood on the terraces to watch. My outstanding memory is seeing Jimmy Hill play for Fulham and I think Johnny Haynes as well. I don't know why we went to that particular match because my father usually only went to watch Lockheed Leamington. I also remember Jimmy as manager of the Sky Blues during the 60's and 70's, he was always to be seen somewhere, either in person, on the TV, in the Coventry Evening Telegraph or of course at Highfield Road.

Public memorial service to be held at Coventry Cathedral on 12 February at 5.30pm

BBC Midlands news are live from Coventry Cathedral tomorrow night for the tribute to Jimmy Hill.

There is a campaign, started by the Telegraph, to name a road or location in memory of Jimmy Hill. They are looking for suggestions and a few have been made already. Lionel Bird has suggested that Signet Square, the site of the old stadium, be renamed Jimmy Hill Square. A nice idea, but it's a small location that gets little attention now (I do agree that the current name is a poor choice and should have reflected someone from CCFC). My feeling is that it should be a more high-profile location. One suggestion is for Broadgate but that will never happen. Another is the Ring Road, which may be feasible but it is unpopular to some people and is also liable to be altered in the future. Another was to rename Sky Blue Way, but that was named to commemorate the FA Cup win so should not be changed. I would go along with the suggestion to rename Phoenix Way as Jimmy Hill Way. If it included the road from its junction with the Binley Road right up to J3 of the M6 it would appropriately pass both the old and new grounds too. It would be a fitting tribute to someone who did so much for the club and the city, along the lines of Brian Clough Way which is the road that links Derby and Nottingham.

Phoenix Way seems much the best idea, given its proximity to Highfield Road The danger of only naming somewhere close to the Ricoh is if the club move to a new ground then any connection is lost

This post appeared on the Coventry City thread

It has been announced that the ashes of the late Jimmy Hill will be spread in the extended memorial garden at the Ricoh Arena two hours before the kick-off of the Sky Blues game against Sheffield United on Saturday 30 April 2016

I think this is a fitting tribute to such a great innovator of the game. I met him a few years ago whilst he was in the queue waiting to be served at Tesco Express in Storrington West Sussex where I was a manager. He had plenty of time for the other shoppers, signing autographs, shaking hands or just having a chat, what a generous man. A lot better disposed than the some of the sports stars from cricket, football or boxing that frequented the store in Hove where I held my first management position. Regards, Little Nut