Fitz Benjamin Hall (born 20 December 1980, Walthamstow, London) is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers of the Football League Championship. He is a central defender who can also play as a central midfielder.
[edit] Club career
[edit] Early career
Hall began his career as a West Ham United youth player but was released at the age of 15, on the same day as Paul Konchesky, Bobby Zamora and Jlloyd Samuel. He was also once told that he wasn't good enough to become a professional footballer but found his lucky break through a friend that got him a trial at Barnet F.C.[1] He then joined Barnet as part of a Youth Training Scheme, before moving to non-league Chesham United under the management of Bob Dowie.
[edit] Oldham Athletic
Hall's performances at Chesham came to the attention of Dowie's brother Iain, manager of Oldham Athletic, who bought him for £30,000 in the 2002 close season. Hall was sold to Premiership side Southampton a year later for £250,000 when Oldham faced a bad financial predicament. However, he did not manage to break into Southampton's first team on a regular basis.
[edit] Crystal Palace
Hall re-joined Iain Dowie at Crystal Palace at the beginning of the 2004–05 season for £1.5m,[2] and went straight into the first team for the club's first season back in the Premiership.
In August 2005, Hall was appointed team captain of Palace, replacing Michael Hughes following the club's relegation back to the Championship. Many fans felt that Hall's performance was being hindered by the burden of captaincy,[citation needed] and after several poor performances, and several yellow cards, Hughes was re-appointed team captain in January 2006.
Hall moved from Palace to Premiership side Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee on 26 June 2006.[3] New Palace boss Peter Taylor cited a £3m get-out clause in Hall's contract as the reason for the transfer.[citation needed]
[edit] Queens Park Rangers
Hall was one of a number of players brought in by Championship side Queens Park Rangers during the early part of the January 2008 transfer window. He signed a four and a half year contract, after Rangers paid an undisclosed fee. Hall scored his first goal for Queens Park Rangers on the first game of 2008–09 season against Barnsley, scoring his second two minutes later, before having a penalty saved for a hat-trick.
[edit] Nickname
His nickname is "One Size", as a pun on the phrase 'One Size Fits All'. It was given to him by regular Boundary Park player Garfield St John Armitt.[citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
As a 16-year-old he acted in a minor role in The Fifth Element (1997) playing a twelve-year-old.[4]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
