Bernard Hall (footballer)

Bernard Raymond E. Hall (born 8 July 1942) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in The Football League for Bristol Rovers.

Bernard Hall
Personal information
Full name Bernard Raymond E. Hall
Date of birth (1942-07-08) 8 July 1942
Place of birth Bath, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
????–1958 Twerton Youth Club
1958–1959 Bristol Rovers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1959–1967 Bristol Rovers 163 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Hall was born in Bath, and played for Twerton Youth Club before joining Bristol Rovers as a junior in 1958. A year later he turned professional at the age of seventeen, but it was a further three and a half years before he finally made his League debut, on 20 April 1962 against Charlton Athletic. He finally established himself as first choice between the sticks after the then incumbent 'keeper Esmond Million received a lifetime ban from football in 1963 for accepting a bribe to throw a game against Bradford Park Avenue.[1]

Following the Million scandal, Hall then played in Rovers' next 134 consecutive games in all competitions. In total he played 163 League games for Rovers before having his career prematurely ended on 31 December 1966 at the age of 24. On that day he challenged Middlesbrough forward John O'Rourke for the ball, but the pair collided so severely that it knocked Hall out and left him in a coma in Frenchay Hospital for sixteen days. Although he recovered from this incident sufficiently to live a normal life, he was unable to resume his football career. He later took as job as the groundsman of the Imperial Sports Ground in Knowle, Bristol.

Career stats

The table below shows Bernard Hall's Football League record for the duration of his professional career.

SeasonClubDivisionAppearancesGoals
1959–60Bristol RoversDivision Two00
1960–61Bristol RoversDivision Two00
1961–62Bristol RoversDivision Two20
1962–63Bristol RoversDivision Three80
1963–64Bristol RoversDivision Three460
1964–65Bristol RoversDivision Three460
1965–66Bristol RoversDivision Three430
1966–67Bristol RoversDivision Three180
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References
  • Jay, Mike; Byrne, Stephen (1994). Pirates in Profile: A Who's Who of Bristol Rovers Players. Bristol: Potten, Baber & Murray. pp. 108–109. ISBN 0-9524835-0-5.
  • Gerry Prewett (14 June 2009). "Rovers Legends: Bernard Hall". Bristol Rovers Football Club. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  1. Dan Warren (14 July 2006). "The worst scandal of them all". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
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