Richard Hall

Club career Born in Ipswich, Hall spent two years as an apprentice at the club, and a further six months as a professional after signing his first contract. Between 1988 and 1991, Hall made 31 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals, before earning a £200,000 move to Southampton on 13 February 1991. In his five years with the club, Hall made 126 league appearances, scoring 12 goals. He also made 30 cup appearances, scoring a further four goals.

Harry Redknapp signed Hall from Southampton for his West Ham United side in the summer of 1996 for a £1.4 million fee. An injury in pre-season delayed Hall's preparations for the 1996–97 season, eventually making his first-team debut on 9 April 1997 in a 0–0 Premier League draw with Middlesbrough at the Boleyn Ground. He made six further appearances until the end of the season. The following two seasons were blighted by injury, and he made his final appearance for West Ham on 13 January 1999 in a 1–0 away defeat to Swansea City in the FA Cup, coming on as a substitute for Tim Breacker, before retiring in April 1999 at the age of 27.

International career Hall made his debut for England at under-21 level as a substitute for goalscorer Andy Cole in England's 2–2 draw with Hungary on 12 May 1992 in Vác. He made his first start for Lawrie McMenemy's side on 28 May in England's Toulon Tournament draw with France. He scored his first under-21 goal on 16 February 1993 in his third appearance for the side in a 6–0 win over San Marino at Luton Town's Kenilworth Road stadium in a 1994 European Under-21 Championship qualifier. He also started in a qualifying draw with Turkey on 30 March and in a 3–0 win over the Netherlands on 27 April, before he scored his second and final under-21 goal on 28 May 1993, one year to the day since his first start for the side. He scored in the Young Lions' 4–1 win away in Poland.

Hall made further appearances in England's successful 1993 Toulon Tournament side, starting in a 2–0 win over Portugal and draws against Czech Republic and Brazil in the group stages. He also played in their semi-final 1–0 win over Scotland on 13 June, before playing in the 1–0 final victory over France, which was to be his eleventh and final appearance for the side. but ultimately was never capped for the senior side.

Coaching career Following his retirement from playing, Hall joined his former club Ipswich Town as a part-time member of the coaching staff in 2001. He was named as a full-time first-team coach in July 2006, alongside his academy role.

Both Humes and Hall joined Colchester United's Academy after leaving Ipswich in 2009. Ahead of the 2010–11 season, Hall was put in charge of the Colchester United reserve team while retaining his first-team and youth-team coaching roles.

With Tony Humes named as Colchester United manager following Joe Dunne's exit on 1 September 2014, Hall was announced as Humes' assistant manager.

Hall was named as caretaker manager at Colchester United alongside John McGreal following Tony Humes dismissal as manager on 26 November 2015. However, following a 5–1 defeat against Burton Albion in his only match in charge, he was replaced by Colchester's under-18s coach Wayne Brown, who was named caretaker manager on 2 December. Despite this change, Hall remained with the club, taking up a one-to-one coaching role within the academy.

Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Managerial

+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordColchester United (caretaker)26 November 20152 December 2015Total

Honours England U21 1993 Toulon Tournament winner