Richard Hall (footballer)

Infobox Football biography
playername = Richard Hall


fullname = Richard Anthony Hall
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1972|3|14
cityofbirth = Ipswich
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=6|in=1
nickname =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Centre back
youthyears = 1987–1988
1988–1990
youthclubs = Ipswich Town
Scunthorpe United
years = 1990–1991
1991–1996
1996–1999
clubs = Scunthorpe United
Southampton
West Ham United
caps(goals) = 022 0(3)
126 (12)
007 0(0)
nationalyears = 1992–1993
nationalteam = England U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 011 0(2)
manageryears =
managerclubs = Richard Anthony Hall (born March 14 1972 in Ipswich) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Playing career

Early career

Hall played youth football with local club Ipswich Town but was let go at the age of 16. He then joined Scunthorpe United in July 1988 as a trainee. He made his debut on Boxing Day 1989 (against Grimsby Town), but, despite signing a professional contract on March 20 1990, he did not appear again until the following season. He soon attracted the attention of scouts from larger clubs and joined Division 1 club Southampton before the season was over. He made 31 league and cup appearances for the club, scoring 3 goals.

outhampton

On February 13 1991, Hall was signed by Chris Nicholl joining Southampton for a fee of £200,000. He made his debut in the final match of the season against Wimbledon on 11 May 1991.

The powerfully built defender soon became a first choice central defender as Southampton struggled annually to remain in the newly formed Premiership. As well as commanding his own penalty area he was also a real threat in the opposition's box, including scoring with a header in the opening match of the 1991-92 season at Tottenham Hotspur. Unfortunately, the regular change-over of managers resulted in the club allowing his contract to expire at the end of the 1995-96 season and he was snapped up by Harry Redknapp, joining West Ham United for the start of the 1996-97 season. The transfer fee was fixed by tribunal at £1.4 million.

He spent five years at the south coast club, and made a total of 157 appearances, scoring 16 goals.

West Ham United

West Ham hoped that they had obtained a bargain but unfortunately, Hall sustained a foot injury during a pre-season game against Carshalton, and made just seven appearances for West Ham towards the end of the campaign. Injury kept him out for the following two years, before he finally decided to retire in May 1999.

References

*soccerbase|3186|Richard Hall
*cite book
author=Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk
title=In That Number - A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC
publisher=Hagiology
year=2003
id=ISBN 0-9534474-3-X
*cite book |last=Hogg |first=Tony |title=Who's Who of West Ham United |year=2005 |publisher=Profile Sports Media| id= ISBN 1 903135 50 8 |pages=95