It was generally a happy love affair but a bit like a marriage it just seemed to disappear at the

“It was generally a happy love affair but, a bit like a marriage, it just seemed to disappear at the end. I had a year of my contract to run when Gérard Houllier recommended me to Le Havre. Brian Stein had left for Caen the year before, but David Evans, the then chairman, wanted money to release me. It was sad, but I had to move on.”Hill does not go into detail, but his departure hurt him financially (it is believed he paid the transfer fee out of his own pocket) and emotionally, and it is to his credit that he has put it behind him to return “It was a lesson,” he recounted “It shows, too, that I am not inexperienced or soft I had a lot of knocks in my career.

In 1975, there were no black players in the side and, mentally, it wasn’t easy. I was one of 22 out there and I was getting all the stick.”But the way to fight back is not verbally It’s to do what you can do best, which is to play football I didn’t mind getting tackled or kicked It was like being complimented I’d get up, smile and brush myself down. It is part of my upbringing.”His hardships, his skill and his travels, not to mention his philosophy of showing patience and sympathy to players, should stand him in good stead this season, for which he has added the experienced Mark Stein, 34, and promising Peter Holmes, 20, to his squad. He knows the Second Division will be a hard school, but he is ready.Second Division players to watchJamie Cureton (Bristol Rovers) Prolific goalscorer last term. Can he do it again without Jason Roberts alongside?Lionel Perez (Cambridge) Eccentric keeper has his work cut out to shore up notoriously porous defence.John Sheridan (Oldham) Former Sheffield Wednesday playmaker still has the class to shine at this level.Jason Lee (Peterborough) Pineapple-head no more and no one dares take the mickey these days as the goals flow.. Next weekend sees the start of one of the toughest leagues in world football. Teams will not be competing for Serie A, the Primera Liga or even the English Premier League, but for the right to be promoted to the Premier League.

Such are the financial implications of success these days that the Wembley play-off final, which sees a third team join their two already-promoted colleagues, is now the most important single game in the domestic season. The significance, both emotional and financial, of this fixture far exceeds winning a simple knock-out competition such as the FA Cup, never mind the Worthington. Next weekend sees the start of one of the toughest leagues in world football. Teams will not be competing for Serie A, the Primera Liga or even the English Premier League, but for the right to be promoted to the Premier League. Such are the financial implications of success these days that the Wembley play-off final, which sees a third team join their two already-promoted colleagues, is now the most important single game in the domestic season.

The significance, both emotional and financial, of this fixture far exceeds winning a simple knock-out competition such as the FA Cup, never mind the Worthington.
To the winner the spoils – and we are talking between £20m and £40m here – to the loser nothing but another season of grinding out away wins at Grimsby and Stockport on cold winter nights.If the bookies are to believed, the two automatic promotion spots have already been taken, with Blackburn and Fulham filling their coffers with the television revenue that flows from Old Trafford and Anfield. All that remains for the other 22 teams is the hope of being involved in the ultimate trauma of Wembley.But should we believe the bookies? It is said that if William Hill had been running MI5, the Second World War would have been over in two weeks. However, the basis on which these predictions are made is essentially a financial one rather than a footballing one. Make no mistake; finance governs football now more than any other single ingredient.When Arsÿne Wenger says that Arsenal can no longer compete with the top Italian and Spanish teams, what he is also admitting is that they can no longer compete with Manchester United.

In the post-Bosman era, which has seen footballers’ salaries multiply ten or twentyfold in a matter of three years, the ability to pay the huge wages demanded by the more talented players is now the paramount force in determining success. With United’s over 60,000-seater stadium and the huge revenue generated by their commercial activities, no team in England is ever likely to be able to compete with them again.The economics of life in the Nationwide First Division are even more complex. Clearly, stadium size and income generated from season tickets and match-day attendances vary considerably between clubs such as newly relegated Sheffield Wednesday or their neighbours United, with the ability to sell 30,000 tickets a game, and the likes of Grimsby or Crewe, who have to exist on gates of 4,000 or 5,000.The demoted clubs lose 50 per cent of their Premier television income for the first two years. At present this amounts to some £3m-£4madditional income a year – but from next season this figure may well be doubled or trebled. At Queen’s Park Rangers such a parachute payment, were we to have one, would more than double our operatingrevenue.Any relegated club has a huge advantage, but only so long as they are re-promoted within two seasons. Sheffield Wednesday, Watford and Wimbledon will never have a better chance than the one presented by this season.