Danny Hall
By Phil Tooley
This article originally appeared in the home programme from the Wycombe Wanderers game.
One man yet to make his mark in a competitive game for Chesterfield is defender Danny Hall. He looked impressive in the pre-season games, including the fixture at Matlock Town when he had to leave the field early with a bloodied head.
But how did the man born on 14th November 1983 and captured from now defunct Gretna begin his career? "I played at Stalybridge Celtic from being about 9 and then I moved on to Tameside, a guy called Bob Partridge who had links with Stalybridge took me to Tameside, which was in essence my Town team, I played Under 11's for them and Bob then ensured I got into the system at Oldham and I was to stay there for many years."
However the first taste of senior action for the Ashton-under-Lyne born player came in February 2003 in a loan spell at then Conference side Scarborough in a 3-0 loss at Barnet. "I went there on a month's agreement and I played the first game and was put in the team in the centre of midfield but Oldham manager Iain Dowie wanted me to play centre half so he decided to recall me."
He made a couple of last minute sub appearances for Oldham at Northampton and at home to Barnsley before his full debut at the start of the 2003-04 season. "My full debut was at home against Brighton, we got beaten 3-1. I recall I did quite well and was quite happy with it. I remember Leon Knight being in attack for them, he scored twice. At the time we had a really young team and the rest of that season was just about trying to get a solid team and we managed to do that in the end."
"There were a lot of quality players around the club at the time, David Eyres, John and Darren Sheridan, Paul Murray, John Eyre, lots of people for the youngsters to learn off."
His second match was a 2-1 loss against Scunthorpe, memorable for card waving; "I remember that game and I was talking about it recently to Paul Harsley who was at Scunthorpe at the time. It was a bit of a rowdy game! The Sheridan brothers had a bit of an incident with their lad who got sent off and Darren was also sent off. One player was chased down the dugout, there was all sorts going off in that game."
Danny was to see red himself in just his third start against The Owls; "It was a shambles. The first booking was a definite yellow but the second one, I was on the floor and their guy threw a low punch at me, I just moved him out of the way, got up and we both ended up getting booked, so off I went."
There were rumours early on that Bolton and Blackburn were tracking him, but Danny knows only of one top notch side that showed an interest; "I never heard anything about their interest but when I joined Shrewsbury, manager Gary Peters, who was at Everton when I started in the first team at Oldham, told me they were monitoring me and then really chasing me, but nothing came of it. "
Throughout his early career, a knee injury was problematic; "Maybe five or six games into the season, I started to get a niggling pain in my knee and it stayed with me for three or four years, it was only the season before last that I really got over that. At one time I had an eight month lay off, I couldn't do any physical exercise, it was a real tricky injury."
His first ever goal, indeed his only senior strike, came in September 2003 in a 5-2 win over Wycombe Wanderers, a game that also saw Darren Currie play. "It was from a corner, I lost my man and volleyed in from about 12 yards. As it happened, it hit the guy standing on the line and ricocheted on his legs about three times and the ball just trickled over, so not a spectacular goal but as my only senior goal it was a good one for me."
Brian Talbot came in as manager and after a run of poor results Danny managed only 45 minutes in a loss at Huddersfield; "My knee was playing up in that game, it was really bad at the time and as we sat down at half time, I couldn't straighten my leg, so I had to come off."
Ronnie Moore was next in the Boundary Park hotseat and two games that fans may remember involved Chasetown in the FA Cup; "That was a horrible game, we didn't play well. They were up for it and we were sluggish and we did well to keep it to a draw to be honest, they were the better team on the day but we got them back to Oldham and beat them 4-0 in the replay."
On Boxing Day 2005, he was again subbed at the break; "Ronnie Moore wasn't too keen on me and I'd just got back into the team a game or two before that. Against Bradford I actually dislocated my shoulder after about half an hour but they made me stay on until half time but by half time it had got unbearable, so I had to come off."
He moved on to Shrewsbury in 06-07 as Gary Peters' side made the play-offs, losing in the Wembley final against Bristol Rovers, 3-1 the score; "It was a great day, a great experience. Sixty-one and a half thousand there, Bristol took loads of fans. Just the experience in playing in a venue like that was unreal but in the end the disappointment overshadowed the whole occasion, but it's something I'm really pleased to say that I've experienced."
Midway through last season he moved again, north of the border to Gretna; "In the summer after the play-off final, Gary Peters signed five or six players and he seemed very unsure as to what his best eleven was so there were a few of us in and out of the side throughout the first four months of the season, very few players got a run in the side so it was a confusing time. I remember he called me in and told me that Gretna were interested in taking my contract over until the end of the season. I was in the team at the time and he told me it was my decision to go or stay, he told me he couldn't guarantee me a place so I decided to try my hand up there."
His debut was in a 2-2 cup game against Morton but his SPL bow was a memorable day, against Rangers; "Rangers at home, well at Fir Park, Motherwell. It was a great game to make your SPL debut in. We were beaten 2-1 but we did really well, their second goal came after the keeper had a bit of a nightmare. Soon after that we played Celtic, a much tougher game, they were a lot better organised and we didn't have any luck, we lost 3-0, but they were great experiences as was our 4-2 loss at Ibrox Park."
He again saw red in a match against Hearts; "No complaints this time, it was two yellows but the second could have been a straight red, I dragged someone down after he'd got by me near our box."
Of the standards in the SPL, Old Firm apart he said; "It's a good standard, nowhere near Premier League but there were two or three who could survive in the Championship but apart from that, you're looking at League One standard."
Owner Brookes Mileson, who'd funded Gretna's rise, fell ill and the club struggled, distressing times for all; "With three or four games to go last season and all the trouble at Gretna, there were scouts everywhere because everyone knew that every Gretna player was in essence a free agent, the club wasn't going to survive. I then heard about Chesterfield being interested after the manager told me they'd asked about me, Lee Richardson and people from Chesterfield watched the last two or three games of the season and it went from there."
He's played in a number of positions, so what does he feel is his best? "I'm a centre half. That was the only position I played for Oldham really. At Shrewsbury, Gary Peters tried me at right back and left back as well as in the centre of midfield. I don't mind playing anywhere but I'm definitely a centre half."
And on his time to date at Saltergate; "I've really enjoyed it so far, I'm settling in, it's just the travelling in from the North West but at least there are four of us who travel in from there."
PHIL TOOLEY
