Bernard Raymond E. Hall (born 8 July 1942) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in The Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 for Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

.

Hall was born in Bath, and played for Twerton Youth Club before joining Bristol Rovers as a junior in 1958. A year later he turned professional at the age of seventeen, but it was a further three and a half years before he finally made his League debut, on 20 April 1962 against Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic F.C.

Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

. He finally established himself as first choice between the sticks after the then incumbent 'keeper Esmond Million

Esmond Million

Esmond Million is a former goalkeeper for Bristol Rovers.Part of the betting syndicate that rocked English football in the early Sixties, the Bristol Rovers goalkeeper was due to be paid £300 to throw a match against Bradford Park Avenue in April, 1963 but never made a penny and ended up banned.In...

 received a lifetime ban from football in 1963 for accepting a bribe to throw a game against Bradford Park Avenue

Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C.

Bradford Association Football Club, previously also known as Bradford and since its reformation in the 1970s now referred to as Bradford Park Avenue, is a football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England...

.

Following the Million scandal, Hall then played in Rovers' next 134 consecutive games in all competitions. In total he played 163 League games for Rovers before having his career prematurely ended on 31 December 1966 at the age of 24. On that day he challenged Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough F.C.

Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

 forward John O'Rourke

John O'Rourke (footballer)

John O'Rourke is a former professional footballer. His position was Centre Forward.During his career he played for Ipswich Town F.C., Middlesbrough F.C., Coventry City F.C., Luton Town F.C., Queens Park Rangers and A.F.C...

 for the ball, but the pair collided so severely that it knocked Hall out and left him in a coma in Frenchay Hospital

Frenchay Hospital

Frenchay Hospital is a large hospital situated in Frenchay, South Gloucestershire, on the outskirts of Bristol, England, part of the North Bristol NHS Trust....

 for sixteen days. Although he recovered from this incident sufficiently to live a normal life, he was unable to resume his football career. He later took as job as the groundsman of the Imperial Sports Ground in Knowle

Knowle, Bristol

Knowle is a district and council ward in the south of Bristol. It is bordered by Filwood Park to the west, Brislington to the east, Whitchurch and Hengrove to the south and Totterdown to the north....

, Bristol.

Career stats

The table below shows Bernard Hall's Football League record for the duration of his professional career.

Season	Club	Division	Appearances	Goals
1959–60	Bristol Rovers	Division Two Football League Second Division From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...	0	0
1960–61	Bristol Rovers	Division Two Football League Second Division From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...	0	0
1961–62	Bristol Rovers	Division Two Football League Second Division From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...	2	0
1962–63	Bristol Rovers	Division Three Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...	8	0
1963–64	Bristol Rovers	Division Three Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...	46	0
1964–65	Bristol Rovers	Division Three Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...	46	0
1965–66	Bristol Rovers	Division Three Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...	43	0
1966–67	Bristol Rovers	Division Three Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...	18	0