Ben Hall - programme article
Posted : 15th August 2023
After injury ravaged his season last campaign, Linfield defender Ben Hall is a man on a mission to make up for lost time. Having played through the pain barrier in Europe last summer, things came to a head when he pulled up on that forgettable night against RFS at Windsor Park. He was out for six months and then couldn’t break back into the team - but now that he’s back fit, he says he’s raring to go.
“Hopefully, I can stay fit and get back to the levels I was at before my injury. When I first came in, in January 2022 it took me a while to adapt to the Irish League, and towards the end of that season was when I started playing my better stuff. That continued over to Europe last summer but injury came at a horrible time and basically wiped last season out for me. I feel like I haven’t played enough, since coming here and considering I signed a two-and-a-half year deal, I want to repay that back to the Club, the gaffer, and my teammates. Watching on last season when we were struggling after Europe, I felt helpless, I just wanted to help, and when we hit form I just wanted to be a part of it. I just hope that I’ll be at the top of my game soon as the games go on, but I feel good at the moment.”
Following the departure of long-serving central defender Jimmy Callacher, former Brighton, Motherwell and Falkirk defender Hall wants to step up and show leadership at the heart of defence, and he believes some of his teammates will be thinking the same.
“I feel that everybody has to step up and lead. Clarkey has been here for years and has slotted into the back three and he will probably feel the same, as will Shieldsy in front of me. We need leaders all over the pitch, if we want to be successful, because obviously other teams have strengthened, too.
I want to step up and be a leader, following Jimmy’s departure and Sam Roscoe.
“We’ve a number of new players this season, including young lads who haven’t played in the Irish League before, so they will probably need time to adapt. Everyone is under no illusions that we want to win the League back again this year. We know how hard it is to retain a title, you have a target on your back, but even though we have lost the crown last season, we still have that pressure on us. From day one, the gaffer has hammered into us what’s wanted and needed at Linfield and I think the new players already know what’s required here. Some of them have played in England at U23 level but coming to the Irish League to play men’s football is a different kettle of fish and us experienced players need to help them through it.
“The new signings all look good. Supporters will have seen that with their performances in Europe and Darragh McBrien joined us in training last week. I have never played against him but the lads here who have, were telling me how good he is. He’s been out a while and he’s probably similar to me in the sense that he will want to get back to the levels he was at before injury. He is at the right club, as the staff will do everything to help him and I think it will suit him here with the way we want to play.”
As we embark on a new League campaign, Omagh native Hall believes that there’s been enough signs in a number of games so far this season to inspire some optimism for the season ahead.
“Pogon finished fourth, just a few points off Legia Warsaw in their League, so that shows the calibre of their team, but we certainly gave them a game, although the scoreline might not reflect that. We conceded from two set-pieces and a penalty, as well as having two goals disallowed, so you wonder ‘what if’ they’d been given – but certainly, the level of our general play was encouraging. When we got back to 2-1 at Windsor, the crowd got behind us and really lifted us, and you could see Pogon were unsettled by that. We needed to capitalise during that spell but unfortunately when Fitzy put the ball in the net, it was ruled out for offside. It would have been interesting to go out to Poland with the tie still in reach, but it was encouraging to go out there and play the way we did. Despite the result, there were signs there that going forward, things look good for us, and I thought we were excellent at home to the Albanian side. It was tough and nervy over in Albania but we dug in and got the job done, and that’s an important trait to have, if you want to be successful.
“Our new system allows us to get another man up the top end of the pitch and provide more of a threat going forward. We have played it a few times before this season. I remember playing it a wee bit at the back end of my first season, and at times last season as well. We work on it in training and whilst it might take a bit of time to nail it down completely, I think if we get it right, it will benefit us. We look good going forward in this system but we want to cut out some of the goals we’ve conceded.”
As we welcome Glenavon to Windsor Park this evening, the former Northern Ireland Youth International is targeting a strong start from here in the League – something which wasn’t possible last year, due to the effects of Europe and a fixture backlog.
“It’s important we get off to a good start from here because we don’t want to be chasing teams early doors like last year. We want to set the pace but obviously, we are already a game behind due to Europe. I recall Fitzy scoring twice against us for Glenavon last season, so hopefully he can do similar, only this time for us!
“Fans have been brilliant so far this season. We felt them pushing us on in Europe, and going to Poland, it would have been easy for them not to bother when we were three goals down. It was brilliant to see them out there and, although it wasn’t the result we wanted, I was glad we could reward them with a strong performance. Hopefully, we can give them something to smile about this season, and they keep supporting us the way they have done, because they really can make a difference.”
Best wishes to Ben for the season ahead and hopefully, his fortunes will be better than they were last season.