Fretwell Hall

Fretwell Hall (1892 – October 1937) was an English professional footballer who played as a wing half in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion and Halifax Town.[1]

Fretwell Hall
Personal information
Full name Fretwell Hall[1]
Date of birth 1892
Place of birth Ecclesfield, England
Date of death (aged 45)
Place of death Halifax, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Wing half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1913–1915 South Shields
1915–19?? Goole Town
1919–1920 Norwich City 30 (?)
1920–1921 Brighton & Hove Albion 12 (0)
1921–1923 Halifax Town 52 (2)
1923–1924 Torquay United
1924–1925 Peterborough & Fletton United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Hall was born in 1892 in Ecclesfield, which was then in the West Riding of Yorkshire.[lower-alpha 1] He was one of numerous children of Elias Hall, a blacksmith who became a grocer and an official of the West Riding County Council, and his wife, Annie.[3][5] Three older brothers, Ben, Harry and Ellis, also played in the Football League, and a fourth played Midland League football.[2][5] The 1911 census records the 18-year-old Hall as living in his father's house in Ecclesfield and working as a coal trammer.[4]

Hall began his football career with South Shields of the North-Eastern League in early 1913. His brother Ellis was already on their books, and Ben Hall was to join later.[6] He remained with the club until February 1915, when he signed for Goole Town of the Midland League.[7] Hall served in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps during the First World War.[2] Afterwards, a trial with Derby County, though promising, came to nothing,[8] and he spent the 1919–20 season with Norwich City, for whom he made 30 appearances in the Southern League.[2]

He signed for Brighton & Hove Albion ahead of their debut season in the Football League as founder members of the newly formed Football League Third Division. His and the club's first appearance in the Football League was on 28 August 1920, a 2–0 defeat away to Southend United in the newly formed Third Division.[9] Competition was fierce for the wing-half position, and Hall made only 11 more first-team appearances in that season.[2]

He moved on to Halifax Town, and again played in his new club's first Football League match: on 27 August 1921, Halifax lost 2–0 at home to Darlington in the new Northern Section of the Third Division.[9] He made 52 league appearances in a two-season stay,[1] playing alongside his brother Ellis in 1922–23.[10] He then returned to the Southern League for two seasons, one with Torquay United and one with Peterborough & Fletton United.[2]

Hall, a married man, lived in Halifax after he retired from the game. He died in the Royal Halifax Infirmary in October 1937 at the age of 45.[11]

Notes
  1. Joyce lists Hall's birthplace as Wortley;[1] this was the name of the registration district containing Ecclesfield, which census records confirm as his actual place of birth.[3][4]
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References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  2. Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  3. "Elias Hall, Ecclesfield, Yorkshire (West Riding)". England and Wales Census, 1901 – via FamilySearch.
  4. "Fretwell Hall in household of Elias Hall, Ecclesfield, Ecclesfield Near Sheffield, Yorkshire (West Riding)". England and Wales Census, 1911 – via FamilySearch.
  5. "Ecclesfield death". Daily Independent. Sheffield. 15 July 1935. p. 4. The death occurred at Ecclesfield, on Saturday of Mr. Elias Hall, one of the best-known personalities in the village. For many years he was an official of the West Riding County Council. He had at one time four sons in professional football ... while another son, J. Hall, played with the Midland clubs Mexborough and Denaby.
  6. "Football gossip". Yorkshire Telegraph & Star. Sheffield. 17 January 1913. p. 5.
    "Football. South Shields F.C. new players". Sunderland Daily Echo. 15 May 1913. p. 4. Another notable addition has been made to the playing members of the club. The capture is Ben Hall, centre half-back, of Haywood, and formerly of Derby County. Ben Hall is ... the brother of Ellis Hall and Fretwell Hall, whose services have been retained by the club for next season.
  7. "Association football. South Shields Club". Newcastle Daily Journal. 25 February 1915. p. 7.
  8. "Chesterfield club's first game". Nottingham Journal. 28 April 1919. p. 6. Fretwell Hall, younger brother of the popular Ben, was given a trial at centre half, and shaped extremely well.
  9. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1990). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1990–91. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 127, 269. ISBN 0-356-17911-7.
  10. "Sheffielder for Halifax Town". Sports Special. Sheffield. 10 June 1922. p. 2.
  11. "Fretwell Hall's death". Daily Independent. Sheffield. 26 October 1937. p. 6.
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