Hill led Coventry City from the old Third Division to the top flight during the 1960s, helping establish the identity and culture that would shape the club for generations. For Chamberlain, one memory captures the connection between Hill and Coventry better than any statistic.
“You know, we were speaking not so long ago the other day about when we left Highfield Road and Jimmy Hill's there on the pitch and he's leading the singing with the fans and, you know, he's got the microphone in the middle of the pitch," Chamberlain told Football Presse.
“And yeah, he would have absolutely 100% loved it.”
That image of Hill standing among the supporters reflects how much his influence extended beyond results. Chamberlain believes his contribution to Coventry and to football more widely has been obscured by his later career in television.
“And that's the thing with Jimmy Hill, he doesn't get the credit that he deserves because people know him as this guy on the TV.
“He doesn't get the credit for all of the things that he did, you know, as a, you know, he brought Coventry through as a manager. He, you know, he was at the club for years. Um, he was behind a lot of innovations within the game and, you know, yeah, absolutely legend.”
Hill's legacy remains visible among Coventry supporters, even after everything the club experienced following his era. Relegations, financial problems, ground-sharing and a 25-year absence from the Premier League did not erase the affection for the man who helped transform Coventry into a top-flight club.
“I mean, he's, yeah, I think so. I think it'll always be there with, because he certainly was so loved for by so many. Yeah. And he just gets, you know, he still gets mentioned, which is, you know, fantastic.
“But yeah, he's an absolute hero for many, many Coventry fans.”
Chamberlain also places Hill alongside the figures who have defined Coventry's later successes. The club's history, in his view, has a small group of managers who stand above the rest.
“You've got your Jimmy Hill, you've got John Sillett and George Curtis, who were the managers when we won the FA Cup. And then you've got Robins and Lampard.
“And I think those 4, really stand out as the big heroes. You know, if you're doing the Coventry City Mount Rushmore, there's your 4 faces you've got on there.”
Sillett and Curtis delivered Coventry's greatest cup triumph in 1987, while Mark Robins oversaw the extraordinary recovery from League Two and helped put the foundations in place for the Premier League return. Frank Lampard then completed the journey.
Hill's contribution was different. He helped create the Coventry City that subsequent generations inherited, changing the club's identity while introducing ideas that were unusual for their time.
For Chamberlain, that is why Hill's influence has survived long after his managerial career ended. His name remains part of the conversation whenever Coventry supporters talk about the club's greatest figures, and his place in the story has only been reinforced by the journey back to the Premier League.
The return has therefore brought Coventry back to the level Hill reached with the club almost six decades ago — a destination that, for all the years of decline that followed, remained part of the identity he helped build.
“He's an absolute hero for many, many Coventry fans.”
Richard Chamberlain is author of "Back at Last: How Coventry City Finally Returned to the Premier League" from Pitch Publishing - which is available here.
