Hill played for hometown club
Carrick Rangers before joining
Linfield. He won three successive
Irish League titles at
Windsor Park, in
1953–54,
1954–55, and
1955–56. He joined
Newcastle United in part-exchange for
Jackie Milburn in 1957. The "Magpies" struggled in the lower half of the
First Division table in the
1957–58 season and finished just one point above the
relegation zone. They then improved to finish 11th in
1958–59, but Hill never settled in at
St James' Park, scoring two goals in just 11 league games. He moved on to
Norwich City, and helped
Archie Macaulay's "Canaries" to win promotion out of the
Third Division in second place in
1959–60; Hill and
Terry Allcock were the
club's top-scorers with 16 goals. Norwich finished fourth in the
Second Division in
1960–61, nine points short of a second successive promotion. New
manager Willie Reid led the club to 17th in
1961–62, though Norwich found greater success in the
League Cup. Norwich won the
1962 Football League Cup final with a 4–0
aggregate victory over
Rochdale, Hill scoring the only goal of the second leg at
Carrow Road. He left the club after a comfortable mid-table finish in
1962–63.
Everton manager
Harry Catterick paid a £25,000 fee for Hill's signature in preparation for the
1963–64 season. However, his career never took off at
Goodison Park, and he played just seven league games for the title challenging "Toffees". Hill was signed by
Port Vale manager
Jackie Mudie for a £5,000 fee in October 1965. He scored four goals in 24 appearances in the
1965–66 season, as the "Valiants" struggled in the lower half of the
Fourth Division table. He scored seven goals in 39 games in the
1966–67 season but scored one goal in only nine appearances in the
1967–68 campaign as
Stanley Matthews's time at the helm at
Vale Park proved to be unsuccessful. ==International career==