Souness pays tribute to Hill

GRAEME Souness has paid a warm tribute to Bernard Hill following the passing of the celebrated English actor and recalled working alongside him on the cult BBC television drama series Boys From The Blackstuff in the 1980s.

Souness and his Liverpool teammate Sammy Lee made cameo appearances as themselves in Alan Bleasdale’s tragicomic look at the impact of prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s policies on the working class people of Britain.

The Scotland midfielder meets the Hill character Yosser Hughes – whose catchphrases “gizza job” and “I can do that” became part of popular culture at the time – in a bar with Lee and signs an autograph for him.

Former Rangers manager Souness, who received the special merit award at the PFA Scotland awards ceremony in Glasgow on Sunday night, recalls being struck by the ease with which Hill, who would later go on to appear in the blockbuster movies Titanic and Lord of the Rings, changed his persona.

“He was a wonderful actor and he was very kind to myself and Sammy Lee on the times we met him,” he said. “He was very generous with his time. Although I think we managed to do it in two takes!

“I remember sitting with him and the director in the morning having a coffee and him being nice, pally Bernard Hill. But in five seconds he became Yosser Hughes which was quite scary. It was at a time of great social upheaval in Liverpool.”

Asked if Hill, who passed away at the age of 79 on Sunday, had given him any advice before filming, Souness said: “I didn’t need any acting tips. I found it very easy – because I was playing myself!”