Hill’s controversial visit to apartheid South Africa, 40 years on
Jimmy Hill was credited with a number of innovations during his time in football, from three points for a win to all-seater grounds and electronic scoreboards. In July 1982, however, his role in a tour to South Africa was altogether more contentious.
Mixed race football teams had been banned in South Africa due to the apartheid regime, so FIFA suspended them in 1964, then kicked them out altogether in 1976, although links with English football continued throughout the era. There were no rules stopping players joining South African sides, so George Best and Geoff Hurst had brief spells there, while Stanley Matthews coached an all-black outfit in Soweto. Former Manchester City manager Malcolm Allison took a touring squad there in 1973, before a team featuring Bobby Moore and the Charlton brothers made the trip six years later, ignoring the boycott but playing opponents of both races.
By the summer of ’82, things were starting to be viewed differently – particularly after a rebel cricket tour to the country at the turn of the year, funded by South African Breweries, when Graham Gooch, Geoffrey Boycott and more England stars kept their visit secret until they arrived in Johannesburg. All were banned from international cricket for three years.
Four months later, a football tour was never going to go down too well – Hill was involved in its organisation and acted as spokesman at a London press conference (above), prior to the party jetting out of Heathrow. “Football is totally integrated in South Africa,” said Hill. “They’ve done what everyone wanted them to do, but they’re still banned from playing the sort of matches they want to play.”
Six fixtures were planned
