Asa Philip Hall (born 29 November 1986) 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 as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. Hall turned professional with

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 ...

, but never played for their first team. He went on to play in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for Boston United,

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 ...

(on loan),

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

and

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 ...

before rejoining Shrewsbury Town in 2012. He spent time on loan at

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 ...

and back at Oxford United in 2013. He represented England at under-19 and under-20 level.

Career

Birmingham City

Hall was born in

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

, West Midlands. He played football in the youth system at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

before moving to

, where he signed his first professional contract at the age of 17. By 18 he was a regular in the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

. Birmingham's

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

director Stewart Hall described him as "the outstanding prospect in the under-18 group" and he was expected to challenge for a first team place. In March 2005 he made his debut for England under-19s, and in May, he was named Birmingham's young player of the 2004–05 season. Later that year he played for England under-20s.

Loan spells

Hall made 12 appearances during three months spent on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

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 Boston United in the 2005–06 season. He signed a one-year contract with Birmingham before the 2006–07 season, spent the last month of the season on loan at Ashford Town (Kent), and signed a further year's contract with Birmingham before the 2007–08 season. In January 2008, Hall joined

of League Two on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his debut for the Shrews on 19 January against Morecambe, and scored the first goal in a 2–0 win. Hall was offered a permanent deal with Shrewsbury by their manager

Gary Peters Gary Charles Peters Sr. (born December 1, 1958) is an American lawyer, politician, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator from Michigan since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representa ...

before his sacking in March. In May, when Hall was released by Birmingham, Peters' replacement Paul Simpson also offered him a contract. The player appeared keen to sign but eventually rejected the offer.

Luton Town

Hall signed for

in August 2008. He was a regular member of the first team, and helped the club reach the

2009 Football League Trophy Final The 2009 Football League Trophy Final was the 26th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from Football Leagues One and Two, the Football League Trophy. The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 5 April 2009, the se ...

, scoring in the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

to defeat

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

in the semi-final. The next season, Hall was again a regular player, though the arrival of Simon Heslop in March saw him demoted to the bench by new Luton manager Richard Money. Hall was released from his Luton contract at the end of the season, having made 89 appearances and scored 17 goals in his time at the club.

Oxford United

On 20 May 2010, Hall signed for

, newly promoted back to the Football League, on a two-year deal. Hall decided not to renew his contract with Oxford, preferring to return nearer his Midlands home.

Shrewsbury Town

In May 2012, Hall agreed to rejoin Shrewsbury Town in July after his Oxford contract expired, and made his second Shrewsbury debut as a substitute in a

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 ...

match against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

on 11 August. In February 2013 Hall moved to

on loan; he made 16 league appearances before returning to Shrewsbury at the end of the season. In May 2013, Shrewsbury manager

Graham Turner Graham John Turner (born 5 October 1947) is an English former footballer who became a manager. His son Mark was also a professional footballer. He is third behind only Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger in terms of most games managed. After a ...

said he intended to talk to Hall about his future with the club, and he was sent on another loan spell at

on 3 July. Hall returned to Shrewsbury at the end of his loan in January 2014, with Turner indicating he was no longer part of his plans and was available for transfer. Despite this, he was allocated a squad number and appeared as a substitute in Shrewsbury's next match against

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 ...

. With Turner departing the club later that month, Hall expressed his desire to stay at Shrewsbury and fight for his place, despite interest from his former Oxford manager Chris Wilder to sign him at his new club

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. Following Shrewsbury's relegation, Hall was released at the end of his contract.

Cheltenham Town

On 28 May 2014, Hall signed for League Two club

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

on a two-year contract. He tore his calf four minutes into his debut, and complications from that injury kept him out for a year. On 23 February 2017, Hall joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

club

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

on a one-month loan. On 21 May 2017, he started as York beat

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

3–2 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in the 2017 FA Trophy Final. Hall was released by Cheltenham at the end of 2016–17.

Barrow

Hall signed for National League club Barrow on 23 June 2017. He was made available for transfer at the end of the 2017–18 season.

Torquay United

Hall signed for newly relegated National League South club

on 21 June 2018.

Career statistics

Honours

Luton Town *

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 ...

: 2008–09 Cheltenham Town *

: 2015–16 York City * FA Trophy: 2016–17

References

External links

Asa Hall profile
at the Torquay United F.C. website--> * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Asa 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Dudley English footballers England youth international footballers Association football midfielders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players York City F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players National League (English football) players