GREAT HARWOOD TOWN

Legends

DENNIS HILL

Dennis appeared for the Robins for around the last 18 months of our existence having been signed by John Hughes from Darwen. Hughesy had in fact been ‘headhunting’ Den for several months before he finally got his man, much to the dismay of the grumpy Steve Wilkes, manager of Darwen at the time.

A few months earlier Den inspired his former team to a comprehensive 3-0 victory at the Showground before a crowd of 86, mesmerising our midfield and defence with his silky skills and magical left foot, but we gained ample revenge, winning by the same score at the Anchor a few weeks later, as well as in the Division Two Trophy, 4-2.

Although he was one of Darwen’s leading scorers during his time there, he only scored three goals for Harwood, the first, and most memorable coming at Atherton Laburnum Rovers on February 19 th 2005. As Harwood ripped the home defence to pieces, an attack appeared to have petered out when the ball was cleared to just outside the right hand corner of the penalty area, but as it fell from the sky, Den smashed it first time on the volley into the top left corner of the net to delight the small Harwood following in an attendance of 48. That strike put us 2-0 up but Rovers fought back to win with ease 5-2, and could even afford to miss a penalty.

His next goal came at Castleton Gabriels where a ‘crowd’ of 32, made up almost entirely of Harwood supporters, saw us win 6-0. He then scored in a 4-3 Division Two Trophy defeat at Cheadle Town.

That may have been his final goal but the highlight of his career with us was yet to come.

April 17 th 2006 at Gigg Lane was a day that none of the travelling Robins’ supporters will ever forget as we became ‘party-poopers’ at FC United’s promotion party. Against all the odds, we triumphed 1-0 thanks to a late Ryan Fisher goal in front of a record crowd of 6,023. That result wasn’t part of the big day’s script and Dennis and his team-mates feared for their safety, not from the huge crowd but from the players and staff of United, who had obviously expected us to turn and lie down!

That win followed our only defeat (ironically 2-1 at Darwen), in our last eight games in which we won 6 and didn’t concede in our final five games.

Den’s, and everyone else’s final game for Great Harwood Town was on May 1 st 2006 when we defeated Eccleshall 2-0 at the Crown Ground. Despite John Hughes having put together a fine side capable of winning promotion the following season, the Chairman ‘pulled the plug’ and the players found new clubs. Many of them immediately moved to higher leagues but Dennis returned to the Anchor where once again, the club folded. He then almost single-handedly saved the town team by re-naming it (or starting up a ‘new’ club) AFC Darwen and joining the West Lancs. Football League. They re-grouped and were soon back in the North West Counties League but a fall out between committee members incredibly ended with Dennis being sacked!

He then continued coaching youngsters at Knuzden Juniors before joining Whinney Hill in the West Lancs. League, a club that had big plans for the future. The manager there was Andy McNally, an ex-Robin himself, who was then joined by several more ex-Harwood players.

Dennis started his career with Burnley FC but couldn’t break into the first team, prompting him to move to the other end of the country in the hope of making it as a ‘pro’ further down the league at Torquay. After 7 months at Plainmoor, he made the even longer journey to Airdrie, who also folded later on so maybe Den should have been called Jonah! Maybe his great-grandparents travelled on the Titanic.

He spent 6 months in Scotland before returning nearer home with Lancaster City but after a year he moved to Clitheroe where he spent the longest and most successful part of his long career(apart from when he was at Harwood). The highlight of his six years there was a Wembley appearance in the FA Vase against Brigg Town, a side that ended one of our own long Vase runs.

Although the Blues were well beaten 3-0, it was still the zenith of Den’s time in the game. The road to Wembley began with a 4-0 win over Immingham Town in the 2 nd qualifying round before Bootle were despatched with similar ease, 5-1 in the 1 st round proper.

RTM Newcastle put up a better fight in the next round but still went down 2-1. The 3 rd round saw the goals flying in once again, this time 6 without reply against ex-World Cup winners West Auckland Town. Willenhall Town and Belper Town put up little resistance, both going down 3-0 before a quarter-final game saw the Blues edge past Sussex League side Peacehaven and Telscombe 1-0.

The semi-final was a two-legged affair against an excellent side from Mangotsfield but a 1-0 away defeat and a 2-0 home win-in front of 2,000 at Shawbridge-got the club to the final.

Den ended his stay there to move to Bamber Bridge where he stayed for a year before moving for the 6 th time, to another local club, Rossendale United. After another one year stay, Den’s itchy feet took him to Darwen where he enjoyed a long stay of 3 years. Strangely, considering he was Darwen’s star player, the manager sometimes left him on the bench, only to throw him on when the team was struggling. This could have been a factor in Dan’s decision to leave the Salmoners, although the prospect of playing with star players like John Eastham, Ryan Fisher, Bobby Harris etc. etc. must have appealed greatly to him. After his second spell at Darwen, or officially his first spell with ‘AFC Darwen’, he joined Whinney Hill where he still plays.

One incident during his time with us that Dennis would rather forget was when he played in the League Challenge Cup win over 1 st Division Atherton Collieries at the Crown Ground. The players and supporters were still celebrating when it was discovered that Den had played for Darwen in an earlier round and so we were expelled from the competition.

Another Saturday afternoon when he did the team no favours was at New Mills. The Referee that day decided that he’d fill his notebook up so great caution was needed by both sets of players. Several bookings later a wag amongst the New Mills supporters shouted out a derogatory remark at the Ref-which I must admit he deserved. But the man in black proceeded to book Dennis for the comment much to the ‘sun-tan-king’s’ indignation! That wasn’t the end of it though as Dennis spent the next five minutes ignoring the ball and chasing the Ref. around the pitch pleading his innocence. Despite being told to go away several times, Den was like a dog with a bone and the inevitable second yellow came out of the top pocket.

Those incidents paled into insignificance when compared with the disaster that befell Darwen, also courtesy of Dennis’ actions. At the end of the 2003/04 season, League officials found that Dennis had played in a game at Leek CSOB when he was still suspended. Cue a three point penalty which dropped Darwen out of the final promotion spot….to be replaced by Harwood, thus guaranteeing our elevation to the 1 st Division! That meant that Den’s best work for Great Harwood Town FC came whilst he was with another club!!

Amongst the famous players he’s played with are Owen Coyle (Bolton manager) and Kenny Black (ex-Rangers) whilst at Airdrie, and Midlands legend Darren Moore whilst at Torquay United.

At the end of the current season, he left Whinney Hill and is currently weighing up coaching and management offers.

Dennis lives in Salmesbury and is married to the lovely Sonia who must be one of the grassiest grass widows in the game as when Den’s not playing, he's either coaching, scouting or taking in a game. Daughter Britney is 8 years-old and son Thomas is 12, and both children are looking forward to meeting their dad before they leave home for University in a few years time!

He’s also a friend of many ex and present Premier League starts so tickets for the big games are never a problem. The cost of electricity though is a big problem in the Hill household as there’s a sun-bed in every room and also, the replacement tubes are very expensive.

Great Harwood Town legend……..

Dennis Hill