Hall: Thomas (Tom)

1918-1919 (Leeds City War-time Guest Player Details)

Inside Right

Born: Newburn, Nortumberland: 04-09-1891

Debut: v Bradford City (h): 22-11-1918

Height & Weight: Unknown

Hall’s career started in his home town and he played for Newburn Manor, Newburn Grange and Newburn Alliance, before signing for First Division Sunderland in January 1909. Though still only a teenager, he made the first team in his first season at Roker Park, making his First Division debut at Inside-Left on 9th April 1910 in a 0-1 home defeat by Everton. It was his only League appearance that season. His first League goal came on 17th December 1910, at the age of nineteen, in a 1-1 draw at Notts County at Meadow Lane in front of a crowd of 7,000, when he equalised in the sixty-third minute. He followed that up with one more appearance in the 1910-11 season, at inside left in a 2-2 home draw with Woolwich Arsenal on 28th January 1911. There were seven games, without scoring the in the 1911-12 season. He showed signs of establishing himself as a regular in the first team squad and found the net a further seven goals, including one from the spot, in making twenty League appearances in 1912-13. No sooner was he showing signs of becoming estalished than he was sold to First Division Newcastle United in May 1913. He had scored eight goals in thirty League appearances while at Roker Park. Having controversially signed for bitter North East rivals Newcastle United, Hall scored on his debut for his new club on 6th September 1913 in a 2-1 defeat of his old team mates at Sunderland. He went on to establish himself as the Magpies first choice centre-forward, scoring fourteen times in forty-two First Division games before official football competition was abandoned in 1915. As Newcastle United had refused to field a team in the wartime football fixtures, Hall, like many other of their players guested with other clubs. With the gifted Clem Stephenson often away on naval dutues, Hall took over at inside-right, making his City debut at 2-1 home win over Bradford City on 23rd November 1918. He hit a post during that game, and scored in both of the following games to cement his selection in the side. When Stephenson returned to the fold on 11th January 1919, in the 4-0 home win over Barnsley, Hall moved onto the right wing, promptly opened the scoring while Stephenson went on to score twice to celebrate his return. Hall scored the only goal of the game in the return fixture at Oakwell a week later. Hall and Stephenson remained in tandem for the next ten fixtures until the final fixture of the Principal Tournament, when Stephenson was unavailable and Hall reverted to Inside right and scored from the spot in a 3-1 away win at Coventry City on 22nd April 1919. He later figured at twice at inside-left, displaying his versatility, and ended the campaign with nine goals from twenty-two appearances. Hall returned to Tyneside after the resumption of peacetime football to take his Newcastle record on to fifteen goals from fifty-four First Division games as well as one goal in four F.A. Cup ties, before signing for Gillingham in July 1920. He was a great success with the Kent club, amassing forty-seven goals in one hundred and ninety Third Division appearances and eight goals in seventeen F.A. Cup games before retiring at the end of the 1925-26 season and taking on the role of trainer.