Robert John Francis Hassell (born 4 June 1980) is an English former

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, rugb ...

who played for

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ye ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough ha ...

and

Bharat FC Bharat FC (also known as Kalyani Bharat FC) was an Indian professional football team based in Pune, Maharashtra that competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system. The team was founded on 26 August 2014 by Kalyani G ...

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the wi ...

as a defender. He is currently an Academy Manager at

Career

Mansfield

Born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, Derbyshire, Hassell graduated from the youth ranks at

. Showing his versatility from the start of his career, Hassell played in both the centre of defence and at right-back. After losing the 2003-04 Division Three Play-Off Final to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

, Hassell failed to negotiate a new contract with Mansfield.

Barnsley

boss

Paul Hart Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the Football League as a defender. The son of Johnny Hart, who played for and managed Manchester City, and ...

brought Hassell to

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. While the name 'Oakwell' generally refers to the main s ...

as part of a rebuilding process in the summer of 2004, completing his move on 1 July. Despite a slow start, Hassell made 43 appearances throughout the

2004-05 A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the Rowing (sport), sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with Sweep (rowing), sweep oars, without a Coxswain, coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each ha ...

campaign and gradually became a fans' favourite. He missed parts of the 2005–06 campaign through injury but played a key role when fit in helping Barnsley gain promotion from

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 ...

. Unlike two years' previously, he was on the winning side at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national r ...

as Barnsley triumphed over

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

on penalties in the Play-Off Final. Hassell then enjoyed another fine campaign during 2006–07, again in the running for all the end of season awards, clocking up 42 appearances and netting two goals. In the following season, he showed his versatility to perform heroically during Barnsley's run to the semi-finals of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

. He made multiple last ditch tackles and goal-line clearances whilst playing at right-back in a 2–1 win over

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...

, and was outstanding in an unfamiliar central midfield position as Chelsea were beaten 1–0 at Oakwell. He was named as Barnsley's Players' Player of the Year, Fans Player of the Year and Disabled Supporters' Player of the Year for the 2008–09 season. When Mark Robins was appointed Barnsley manager following the start of the 2009-10 season, Hassell initially dropped out of the team, yet soon found his way back in due to consistent performances and a high work rate. Hassell was made Barnsley vice-captain in the summer of 2010 when Robins handed the captaincy to

Jason Shackell Jason Philip Shackell (born 27 September 1983) is a former English professional footballer who last played for Lincoln City. Shackell primarily plays as a centre-back. Career Norwich City Shackell is a product of the Norwich City youth academ ...

. The 2010-11 season was another successful one for Hassell who made his 200th league start for Barnsley against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

in January. Keith Hill named Hassell as club captain for the 2011-12 season. Hassell had to go in goal 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 ...

tie with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Bor ...

on 11 August 2012 after Ben Alnwick was sent off and Barnsley had already used all 3 of their substitutions. In his final years as a Barnsley player, Hassell found games harder to come by but nevertheless always impressed when called upon. He was released by the club after ten years in May 2014. A year later in July 2015, Hassell was rewarded for his service to Barnsley with a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

at Oakwell against Mansfield Town. The home side, featuring Hassell's former teammates from the 2006 promotion winning team, won the match 4–3. He is regarded as a club legend at Barnsley.

Bharat FC

In December 2014, Bobby signed for new

team

. Hassell played the first ever match for the club as the I-League debutants held

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Mr. Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941 along with his younger brother Mr. Vaikuntrao Dempo. Mr. Vasantrao S. Demp ...

to a goalless draw.

Return to Barnsley

After leaving India, Hassell took up a position as Head of Recruitment for Barnsley's Academy in 2015. He now serves as Academy Manager at Oakwell.

Personal life

Hassell is a committed Christian and he credits his faith as helping him overcome his temper and giving him an abundant sense of peace.Bobby Hassell talks about his faith with Inspire magazine
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Career statistics

References

External links

at barnsleyfc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hassell, Bobby 1980 births Living people Footballers from Derby English footballers Association football defenders Mansfield Town F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players English Football League players English expatriate sportspeople in India English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in India Bharat FC players I-League players Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff