Jeff Hall (footballer)
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Jeffrey James Hall[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 7 September 1929||
Place of birth | Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England | ||
Date of death | 4 April 1959[1] | (aged 29)||
Place of death | Birmingham, Warwickshire, England | ||
Position(s) |
Right back | ||
Youth career | |||
Bradford Park Avenue | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
REME | |||
1950–1959 | Birmingham City | 227 | (1) |
International career | |||
1955 |
England B | 1 | (0) |
1955–1957 | England | 17 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Jeffrey James Hall (7 September 1929 – 4 April 1959) was an English
It was the death of Hall – a young, fit, international footballer – from
Biography
Hall was born in
He was converted to
Also that season, he won his first representative honours, a cap for
Hall's last match for Birmingham City was away to
Birmingham City commissioned a second memorial clock to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hall's death. Centrally sited above the main stand at St Andrew's, it was unveiled in September 2008 by Hall's teammates Alex Govan and Gil Merrick.[11] However, adverse reaction to the clock's size and position provoked the club into ordering a larger replacement.[12]
Style of play
In Hall's obituary in the Birmingham Post, he is remembered as "one of [Birmingham City's] most skilful and popular players … who harnessed a keen intelligence to natural footballing ability to make a mark of considerable distinction on the game", adding that "his style of play, which tried to ensure any defensive move was turned smoothly and quickly to attack, and his demeanour on and off the field were classic examples to young devotees of the game".[13] Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph remarked that Hall "met the physical challenge on the field without flinching and with a fair tackle. Few defenders ever mastered the handicap of lack of height so competently".[13] In 1956, The Sunday Times paid tribute to a Birmingham City defence termed "superb" and opined "clearly if [Gil] Merrick is an emperor among goalkeepers, then Hall and [Ken] Green, Birmingham's backs … are very worthy paladins".[13]
Career statistics
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Fairs Cup | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Birmingham City | 1950–51 | Second Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
1951–52 | Second Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
1952–53 | Second Division | 16 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | ||
1953–54 | Second Division | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 34 | 1 | ||
1954–55 | Second Division | 32 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 36 | 0 | ||
1955–56 | First Division | 38 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 | |
1956–57 | First Division | 36 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 0 | |
1957–58 | First Division | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
1958–59 | First Division | 29 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 0 | |
Career total | 227 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 265 | 1 |
Honours
Birmingham City
- Football League Second Division: 1954–55
- FA Cup finalists: 1955–56
References
- ^ a b c "Jeff Hall". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ Gould, Tony (30 April 1995). "I thought my polio was over, but not any longer". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
In the same month and year that I contracted the disease in Hong Kong, the international footballer Jeff Hall died of it in England. Before the end of the Second World War polio had been a comparatively rare disease in Britain. But the late Forties and early Fifties were the polio years here as elsewhere, the time when parents grew anxious as the summer approached and kept their children away from swimming pools where the disease was thought to spread. Though polio was never a killer on the scale of cancer and heart disease, it was feared because of its capacity to maim young and healthy bodies. Despite this universal fear, take-up of the Salk vaccine when it became available in this country in the mid-Fifties was sluggish. Jeff Hall's death changed that. The message finally got through to teenagers on the terraces at football matches and in the Mecca dance-halls. Emergency clinics were set up, and there was such a run on the vaccine that further supplies had to be flown in from the United States.
- ^ "Dr Salk promotes polio vaccine in UK". On This Day. BBC. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
There has been a sharp rise in the demand for the vaccine following the death from the disease of Birmingham City full back Jeff Hall last month. Local health departments have been overwhelmed with applicants and have ordered an extra million doses. On 22 April daily inoculations at Manchester Town Hall were suspended because of a shortage of the vaccine.
- ^ a b c Varma, Anuji (19 June 2009). "Tragic Birmingham City star Jeff Hall inspired polio fight". Sunday Mercury. Birmingham. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
- ^ Matthews, p. 24.
- ^ Courtney, Barrie (21 March 2004). "England – International Results B-Team – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
- ^ Courtney, Barrie (5 June 2005). "England – International Results 1950–1959 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
- ^ Giller, Norman. "England Postwar Lineups and Match Highlights Part 3: 1955–56 to 1959–60". England Football Online. Archived from the original on 10 March 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
- ^ "Soccer: Life's a beach for Maurice". Telegraph & Argus. Bradford. 16 March 2001. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
"Team Talk: Wilsden 1930/31 and a future England international". Keighley Kicks. Steve Penny. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2012. - ^ Cowan, Mark (15 September 2008). "Birmingham City legends unveil new Jeff Hall memorial clock". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ Tattum, Colin (22 September 2008). "Jeff Hall clock to be replaced by Birmingham City". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Burnton, Simon (9 December 2016). "The forgotten story of … Jeff Hall, the footballer whose death turned tide against polio". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
External links
- Jeff Hall at Englandstats.com