Denzil Hale (9 April 1928 – 14 July 2004) is a former 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 le ...

, who played 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

. Hale started playing

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Yatton United and his home town team Clevedon Town before joining Bristol Rovers as an amateur in 1951. He was awarded a professional contract on 19 February 1952 and made his first team debut in a Division Two game in 1953. He initially played as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, and spent some time playing as an emergency

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

following an injury to

Geoff Bradford Geoffrey Reginald William Bradford (18 July 1927 – 30 December 1994) was an English professional footballer who spent his entire career at Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England ...

. He was later converted to a centre half, and played in that position for the majority of his professional career. After playing 120 League games between 1953 and 1959 and scoring twelve goals, all in the 1953–54 season, Hale left Rovers and returned to non-League football, playing for

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

before returning to his previous club Clevedon Town.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Denzil 1928 births 2004 deaths People from Clevedon English footballers Association football forwards Association football defenders English Football League players Clevedon Town F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Bath City F.C. players