You may remember Matt Hill playing over 100 games for Preston North End between 2005 and 2008. Although it doesn’t seem like that long ago, here’s a way to put it into context. His son James who had just turned three-years-old when Hill arrived at Deepdale, made his Premier League debut for Bournemouth at the weekend.
Now 21, James Hill who is also a defender like his Dad was, came off the bench to help The Cherries find an equaliser and draw their opening game 1-1 against West Ham United. He has been at Bournemouth for the last 18 months, but spent the second half of last season on loan at Scottish Premier League side Hearts.
The younger Hill started his career at Fleetwood Town, having spent a lot of his childhood in the Lancashire area. He made his debut for The Cod Army aged just 16, and went on to make 53 appearances for the League One side. He has also played for the England youth teams including the Under 21’s and it wasn’t a surprise when he moved to Bournemouth for a fee thought to be at least £1m, a record fee received by Fleetwood.
The summer before Hill moved to Bournemouth, it was reported that Preston North End were interested in bringing him to Deepdale to follow in his father’s footsteps. There was thought to be a lot of interest in the defender at the time, but a move never transpired.
His father was very impressive at Preston under the management of Billy Davies initially, and then Paul Simpson and Alan Irvine. He was part of the side that reached the Championship play-off final in 2005, but ultimately lost to West Ham United. Hill senior was obviously delighted to hear about his son’s debut saying it was a proud moment when his son rang him to tell him of the news.
Hill won the club’s player of the year award in the 2006-07 season, and regularly had strong competition for the left-back role from Callum Davidson. The former Bristol City player left the North West in 2008 when he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers. He gained promotion with them and played a couple of times in the top flight.
He then moved on for spells with Barnsley, Sheffield United, and Tranmere Rovers amongst others. He is now manager of Stafford Rangers who play in the seventh tier of English football.