Background
Hinton was born in Norwood, London.
Hinton was born in Norwood, London.
He began his football career with his local club, Charlton Athletic, making his debut in the Second Division in the 1957-1958 season. After scoring twice from 131 appearances in the Football League, Hinton was signed for Chelsea by Tommy Docherty in August 1963 for £30,000. Hinton made his League debut as a full back but he later made a number of appearances at wing-half and inside-forward before earning a regular first-team place at centre-half in 1961 following an injury to Gordon Jago.
When Hinton moved to Chelsea he reverted to full back.
Playing as part of a richly-talented team including the likes of Charlie Cooke, Alan Hudson, Bobby Tambling, John Hollins, Peter Bonetti and Peter Osgood he was part of the successful Chelsea side of the 60s and early 70s, earning his first winners" medal with the League Cup in 1965. as the signing of John Dempsey and David Webb increased competition for 1st team places. Under coach (and later Manager) Dave Sexton, Hinton, Harris and Eddie McCreadie pioneered the zonal marking system of defense in the English 1st Division, consistently playing together throughout the Sixties.
After his League career he had a spell with Barnet before retirement. In all, he made 344 appearances for Chelsea between 1963 and 1976, scoring 4 goals.