Robert Kieran Dennis Hall (born 20 October 1993) is 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 ...
who plays for
Hampton & Richmond Borough. Hall plays as a
forward or
on the wing.
During his time as a young player at
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...
, Hall spent time on loan at Oxford,
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
,
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
and
Bolton Wanderers before finally signing for Bolton on a permanent basis.
Club career
West Ham United
Hall began his career with
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
in 2001
and signed his first professional contract in October 2010.
Hall was given squad number 46 for the
2011–12 season and was an unused
substitute for West Ham's
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
defeat by
Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...
in August 2011.
Oxford United (loan)
In September he signed a one-month loan deal with
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
,
later extended by a further month.
He made his debut on 13 September against
Dagenham & Redbridge, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 victory, the first of six goals in his ten appearances in all competitions. West Ham recalled Hall on 31 October as cover for injured players. He did not, however, feature for them and returned to Oxford on a one-month loan on 16 November.
Hall played four games for Oxford during his second loan spell, without scoring, before being recalled by West Ham on 21 December. He made his West Ham debut on 31 December in a 2–1 away defeat to
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
, coming on in the 79th minute as a substitute for
Papa Bouba Diop
Papa Bouba Diop (28 January 197829 November 2020) was a Senegalese professional footballer. His preferred position was defensive midfield but he could also play as a centre back, where he previously played at Lens. Diop was considered a strong ...
.
Milton Keynes Dons (loan)
In March 2012 Hall signed on loan for
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
club
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
until the end of the 2011–12 season. He was West Ham's Academy Player of the Season for 2011–12.
Hall played once for West Ham in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
and twice in the League Cup in the 2012–13 season before joining Championship club
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
on loan in November.
Birmingham City (loan)
Hall made his Birmingham debut away at
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
. After an hour, he made a pacy run down the centre and was fouled as he entered the penalty area.
Marlon King
Marlon Francis King (born 26 April 1980) is a Jamaican former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Born and raised in south London, he started his career in non-League football with Dulwich Hamlet. He played for Barnet, Gillingham ...
converted the penalty for Birmingham's equaliser, but they lost 3–2.
He provided the
assists for both of
Curtis Davies
Curtis Eugene Davies (born 15 March 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Derby County.
Davies began his career at Luton Town, for whom he made his professional debut in 2003. Davies moved to Premie ...
's goals in the 2–1 defeat of
Barnsley in December. West Ham declined to allow Hall to play for Birmingham in the FA Cup, but were prepared to extend his loan for a further month, to be reviewed on a monthly basis. He made seven assists from thirteen Championship appearances before returning to West Ham for assessment of a groin problem, and underwent surgery on a
hernia
A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin herni ...
a few days before his loan formally ended on 16 March.
Bolton Wanderers
On 28 March 2013, he was loaned out by West Ham again, this time for a month initially to link up with
Bolton Wanderers. He made only one appearance, starting against
Blackpool in a 2–2 draw on the last day of the season. He started the game but was replaced by substitute
Marvin Sordell
Marvin Anthony Sordell (born 17 February 1991) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Sordell started his career with Fulham prior to joining Watford for a two-year scholarship in 2007. He made his professional de ...
after 37 minutes when Bolton were 2–0 down.
Following his contract at West Ham expiring, Hall signed for Bolton permanently on 1 July 2013, signing a three-year contract. In August 2013, the Professional Football Compensation Committee set Hall's transfer fee as an initial £450,000 with additional fees payable upon certain conditions occurring. West Ham would also be due 20% of any profit made by Bolton should Hall be transferred. He made his second début on 6 August as he started in Bolton's 3–1
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
away win against
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
. He scored the first goal of the game, his first for Bolton.
At the end of the 2015–16 season, the club confirmed that he would be leaving when his contract expired at the end of June, following a knee injury sustained while on loan at MK Dons.
Milton Keynes Dons (loan)
On 26 March 2015, Hall re-joined Milton Keynes Dons on-loan until the end of the 2014–15 season. On 18 April 2015, Hall scored his first goals for Milton Keynes Dons with a hat-trick in a 6–1 home defeat of
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...
. He dedicated the goals to his friend and former teammate at West Ham United,
Dylan Tombides
Dylan James Tombides (8 March 1994 – 18 April 2014) was an Australian professional footballer who played as a striker for West Ham United and the Australian under-17 and under-23 teams.
He partially grew up in Macau and played in Hon ...
, who died exactly one year previous from cancer.
On 28 July 2015, Hall signed for a second consecutive loan period until the end of the 2015–16 season. On 5 April 2016 Hall suffered a ruptured
anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...
in his left knee during training, and returned to Bolton Wanderers for treatment.
Oxford United
On 19 July 2016, Oxford United announced that they had signed the former loanee on a two-year permanent deal, despite his ongoing injury. He made his first appearance as a substitute in a
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
match against
Chelsea U23 on 8 November, and his first league appearance, again as a substitute, against
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
four days later. His first starting appearance came in a League One fixture against
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
on 19 November.
In his
first season back at the club, he scored 6 goals in 26 League appearances (5 as substitute) and appeared at Wembley in the
2017 EFL Trophy Final
The 2017 EFL Trophy Final was an association football match that was played on 2 April 2017 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was played between League One teams Coventry City and Oxford United. The match decided the winners of the 2016–17 EFL T ...
.
After a bright start to
2017–18, in which he scored a further 5 goals in 15 appearances (two in the league), he spent four months out of contention due to a long-term injury, before returning to the first team for the final two games of the season.
His
2018–19 season was even worse hit by injury: after playing in the opening fixture, he sustained a knee injury that required an operation and did not reappear until the last four games of the season.
However, he signed a new one-year contract with Oxford in May 2019, with the option of a further year. This option was taken up before Hall was released at the end of the 2020-21 season.
Forest Green Rovers (loan)
After signing a one-year contract extension with Oxford, Hall joined
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
club
Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...
on a six-month loan on 24 January 2020.
Barnet
Following his release by Oxford, Hall went on trial at
Gillingham in pre-season. He signed for
Barnet on 21 September 2021. He was released at the end of the
2022–23 season.
Hampton & Richmond Borough
Hall joined
Hampton & Richmond Borough for the 2023-24 season.
International career
Hall has represented England at
under-16,
under-17,
under-18 and
under-19 levels and was a member of the team that won the
2010 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship
The 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the ninth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship, held in Liechtenstein from 18 to 30 May 2010. The hosts decided not to field a team, fearing it would not be competitive enough ...
in Liechtenstein.
His under-19 debut came on 10 November 2011 when he appeared as a substitute for
Harry Kane
Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. A prolific goalscorer with strong link play, Kane is regarded as one of ...
and scored the only goal in a victory against
Denmark under-19 at
Falmer Stadium
The Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Community Stadium and also referred to as the Amex, is a football stadium in the village of Falmer, in the City of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. With a capacity of 31, ...
.
Personal life
Hall attended
The Grange School, Aylesbury
The Grange School is an 11–18 mixed, foundation secondary school and sixth form in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England. It was established in 1954 and is part of the Aylesbury Learning Partnership.
History
In 1959, the school was visit ...
.
His cousin is fellow footballer
Reece Hall-Johnson who plays for
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
.
Career statistics
Honours
Milton Keynes Dons
*
Football League One runner-up:
2014–15
Oxford United
*
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
runner-up:
2016–17
England U17
*
UEFA European Under-17 Championship
The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA.
Spain is the most successful team in this ...
:
2010
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Robert
1993 births
Living people
Footballers from Aylesbury
English men's footballers
England men's youth international footballers
Men's association football forwards
West Ham United F.C. players
Oxford United F.C. players
Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
Bolton Wanderers F.C. players
Forest Green Rovers F.C. players
Barnet F.C. players
Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Premier League players
Black British sportsmen