Ex Files - Keith Hill

Of course we know that he's the manager now, but we've added his profile as a former Dale player to our list of interactive Ex Files.

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Player Profile: Keith Hill

Name	Keith Hill
Position	Central Defender
Date of Birth	17th May 1969
Born	Bolton
Height	6'0
Weight	12'06
Signed for Dale	Plymouth Argyle - 03.07.96
Fee	Free Transfer
Debut	Swansea 2 Dale 1 - 17.08.96
Other Clubs	Blackburn Plymouth Cheltenham Wrexham Morecambe
Left Spotland	05.06.01

Dale Stats (to July 2007)

	League			Cup			Total
Season	App	Sub	Goals	App	Sub	Goals	App	Sub	Goals
2000-2001	22	3	0	3	0	0	25	3	0
1999-2000	37	1	0	6	0	1	43	1	1
1998-1999	33	0	1	7	0	0	40	0	1
1997-1998	36	1	2	3	0	0	39	1	2
1996-1997	41	0	3	3	0	0	44	0	3
Total	141	19	4	21	7	0	162	26	4

Keith is a reliable figure in the centre of Rochdale's defence and has been now for four seasons. Good in the air and on the floor, Keith is a popular figure around Spotland, though he does seem to pick up more than his fair share of bookings.

Bolton born Keith started his career playing for Lancashire neighbours Blackburn Rovers making over a hundred appearances for them. However, he found himself a victim of Jack Walker's cash injection into the club, and manager Kenny Dalglish's spending policy, and first team chances after this were very limited.

Following this, he decided on pastures new by signing for South coast club Plymouth Argyle. This was a successful move for Keith who spent six good years for the Home Park outfit, making almost 150 first team appearances for the Pilgrims. However, following manager Neil Warnock's appointment, things were downhill all the way, leading to his release in 1996.

Keen for a move back to his native North of England, the Six foot tall defender was immediately snapped up by new Dale manager Graham Barrow. His first season for Dale saw the club finish a disappointing 18th, but it was a largely successful one for Keith as he formed a terrific partnership with fellow central defender Alan Johnson.

The start of his second season at Spotland saw his defensive partner Johnson pick up a horrendous injury, meaning had to go through the season with several different partners and he also suffered a particularly nasty injury himself, meaning a two month lay off.

1998/99 saw a more settled season for Hill, with the arrival of Mark Monington. The two of them were able to form a partnership similar to the one he had with Johnson, but things were disappointing once again as Dale slumped to a final league position of 19th leading to the sacking of Graham Barrow.

During that season, Keith Hill found himself in the national headlines when he became inadvertedly involved in the Stan Collymore situation. Following Collymore's decision to enter a clinic to deal with stress, Aston Villa manager John Gregory spoke out to the press claiming "stress was when you're 29 years old playing for Rochdale, with an expiring contract with a mortgage to pay". This mirrored Keith's situation perfectly and he was held up in the press as this example.

Thankfully, Keith was given another contract at Spotland and he went on to have a successful season in 1999-2000 under new manager Steve Parkin. It was in this time that Hill picked up a large number of bookings leading to a couple of suspensions.

His final season proved to be the 2000-1 season. He played around half the games, and there were few criticisms of him during that time. Indeed, when it was announced that he'd been released from the club at the end of that season, it raised many an eyebrow - especially given that the much criticised Simon Coleman remained at the club.

After leaving Dale, he had short spells with Cheltenham, Wrexham and Morecambe. He was brought back to the club in the Summer of 2004 to take control of the Youth development and the School of Excellence. During that time, the youth team were victorious in the Lancashire FA Youth Cup.

When Steve Parkin was sacked in December 2006, Hill was put in temporary charge and after a spell of two wins and a draw from his four games, he was given the job on a permanent basis, signing a three year contract in the Summer of 2007. The rest as they say is history.

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