[a] He was one of numerous children of Elias Hall, a blacksmith who became a grocer and an official of the West Riding County Council, and his wife, Annie.
[2][5] The 1911 census records the 18-year-old Hall as living in his father's house in Ecclesfield and working as a coal trammer.
[2] Afterwards, a trial with Derby County, though promising, came to nothing,[8] and he spent the 1919–20 season with Norwich City, for whom he made 30 appearances in the Southern League.
His and the club's first appearance in the Football League was on 28 August 1920, a 2–0 defeat away to Southend United in the newly formed Third Division.
[9] He made 52 league appearances in a two-season stay,[1] playing alongside his brother Ellis in 1922–23.