John Henry Hall (3 July 1883 – 20 February 1949) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played more than 200 games in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

Career

Hall was born in

Hucknall Hucknall () is a market town in the Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, north of Nottingham, southeast of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, from Mansfield and south of Sutton-in-Ashfield. Hucknall is on the west ba ...

, Nottinghamshire. After trials with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

, he turned professional with

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

in October 1904. He played more than 50 games in the Football League, scoring 18 goals before joining

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in 1906. He was their leading scorer in the two seasons he spent with the club, with 28 and 26 goals respectively in all competitions. In all domestic league competitions, he scored 38 goals from 67 games in the Southern League, 6 from 9 in the United League, and 5 from 7 in the Western League. In April 1908, Hall signed for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

for a £700 fee. At the time, there was a £350 cap on transfer fees, so clubs evaded the problem by including a second player as a makeweight in the deal, valuing him at the difference between £350 and the fee required. The makeweight in this case was Harry Kent, a centre-half who played only six times for Middlesbrough before returning to the Southern League with

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. Middlesbrough were nevertheless fined £100 over the transaction, as Hall's Football League registration was still held by Stoke. Hall was Middlesbrough's top scorer in both the seasons with that club, in 1908–09 and 1909–10. After a brief spell with

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English f ...

he moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, where he was yet again his club's leading scorer in his first two seasons, 1910–11 (despite not joining the club until December 1910) and 1911–12. After retiring from football, Hall became the landlord of The Small Heath Tavern in Birmingham, where he remained until his death in 1949.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Jack 1883 births Footballers from Hucknall 1949 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Stoke City F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players