TT BLOG
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Rachel Malloch – @Rachelvillavox
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ASA HALL
Viking. Leader. Legend. Captain Fantastic. The MessiAsah. A fantastic servant for 6 years at Torquay United, a no frills warrior, an industrious, fearless, hard working midfielder, capable of poaching in the box, scoring corkers from distance and often proving aerial prowess that would rival many centre forwards, a player whose career has run it’s course under the new era of Paul Wotton, assistant coach Mike Edwards, director of football Neil Warnock and the holy grail of the Bryn Consortium, for many this moment while inevitable with prolonged absences through injury and fitness issues over the last season or 2, has sadly drawn to a close.
Asa joined Torquay United in July, 2018, a summer signing of Gary Owers as the task was set to assemble a squad strong enough to challenge in the National League South following relegation, a signing from Barrow FC, his quality was immediately there to be seen, but after a poor start to the season, it was ‘Owers Out’ and ‘Gary Johnson In’ to salvage and rejuvenate the mid table position. Asa was installed as new club captain replacing Brett Williams and the rest as they say, is National League champions history.
Asa’s combative all action style soon evolved in becoming a massive favourite with supporters and wading in with a goal of the century in season 2018/19 with a festive 30 yard firecracker against Truro City on Boxing Day.
That season Asa Hall was a vital cog in the squad that saw Torquay Utd accumulate an unassailable amount of points, crowned NLS champions.
Asa Philip Hall’s youth career started at Wolves before a switch across to the West Midlands to Birmingham City that followed a career in the lower divisions, including Shrewsbury Town, Oxford United and Luton Town.
Asa may be a born and bred Dudley lad but as an Aston Villa supporter, this endeared him to a few Brummie ex pats in the bay, myself being one of them. A 6 year career in a yellow shirt, making over 190 appearances and wading in with 40 or so goals, heralding him in the TQ1 alumni as one of the all time greats.
To summarise his 6 years with Torquay would be hard to condense in the sense of what he achieved for us, how he endeared himself to us, captaining the club to NLS champions and becoming the first Torquay United captain to do so in 90 years, being a part of the memorable battle of Woking field, Mr Reliable during the COVID hit restrictions of streaming in your living room days, goals in the quite extraordinary FA Cup tie with Crawley, a 14 league goal haul for Hall in season 20/21, a fantastic performance against Notts County in the play offs semi final including a vital one in extra time, the heartbreak of Ashton Gate, the shootout where Asa nobly stepped up to convert while all around others stuttered, a cool head to convert the penalty in the fervent classic Derby cup match, as players came and went, there was always the feeling that our midfield, the team as a whole just worked so much better with Asa involved. Torquay United has just felt a better place with Asa Hall a part of it.
Despite his injuries, often playing through the pain barrier, getting clattered sustaining a fractured cheekbone, his indomitable spirit and leadership qualities pushing him on, almost a last hurrah last season that despite relegation, produced some of the most stoical re-energised performances from our skipper, goals at Boreham Wood, then Eastleigh before Altrincham away, scoring 2 including a ridiculous barnstormer 25 yarder volley, only for heartbreak to concede a penalty almost at the final whistle.
No player or supporter would wish to dwell on this last season, highlighted only that following the shroud of Administration, points deductions, poor performances, we avoided relegation and Asa was only able to sporadically play a role, but despite long absences and slow healing injuries, when he did take to the field, there was still glimpses of the wonderful player he is. On every Torquay United supporters wish list would be a cloned Asa Hall, a player with the same attributes to recreate this remarkable player who kept battling fatigue and age this season. We’ve seen plenty of younger midfield players come and go but none quite compared or matched his strengths, ability and spirit. With Asa Hall they certainly broke the mould.
Our club owes our captain Asa Hall a huge amount of gratitude, we are indebted to him for so many colossal performances, his immeasurable loyalty and while we’ve gone through so much in recent years, euphoric to soaring disappointment, the bittersweet of football, somehow knowing Asa Hall was here with us, a part of the Plainmoor framework, felt comforting, reassuring. From the bottom of all our hearts, all the incredible memories, thank you Asa Hall for everything you have given to this club and whatever the future holds, there’s a club out there who is about to get one heck of a leader and I would hope the coaching badges aren’t too far away.
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Matty Hayward – @MattyHayward96
It had to happen eventually. Asa Hall’s career in yellow has been punctuated by question marks around his ongoing fitness and his ability to last another season. Brought in by Gary Owers as skipper, Asa actually leaves Torquay in the same league as he started with them, but that only tells half the story. I will attempt to tell a paint a fuller picture of the Viking through the medium of five moments:
1) 26th December 2018 – Truro (h). The Gulls, 2-1 up having overturned Tyler Harvey’s early opener, needed a third to solidify their lead and ease the hangovers of the Boxing Day crowd. The captain responded: an absolute screamer which, in a year without Jamie Reid, would’ve claimed Goal Of The Season. A looping, curling, spellbinder of a left-footed strike continued the Yellows’ brilliant run, and sent us on our way to the National League South title. It is no exaggeration to say that we couldn’t have won that league without Asa: he was crucial in the club’s only truly successful season of the last fifteen years.
2) 13th April 2021 – Sutton (a). With sixth tier ‘glory’ in the rear-view mirrors, Gulls fans dared to dream of the Football League once again. A tricky away game on the streams lay ahead at title rivals Sutton. Cor, it was a tight, edgy, uncomfortable affair. Cometh the eighty-first minute, cometh the man. A cross from the right is absolutely leathered in by the head of the pony-tailed number 8, and United looked on track to secure the championship.
A fantastic, crucial goal scored by a man who will be remembered for his fantastic, crucial goals.
3) 22nd April 2023 – Altrincham (a). We didn’t go up. Not sure if you knew. Benji Kimpioka, Matt Buse, playoffs, eh?
So, to Greater Manchester. If not on the cusp of a National League Great Escape, certainly in the same post-code as one. However, after Mark Halstead dived past one in the first half, and Tom Lapslie hooked another off the line to keep us just about in it, our fate looked almost sealed.
Never fear, we had a corner. Stobbs. Bobble. Hall. 1-1.
And we went again. Alty cleared to the edge of the box, and the suspiciously weary looking leader brought it down on his chest and nailed an obscene strike into the bottom corner.
The man who had dragged his team kicking and screaming back into the fight for survival dragged his team kicking and screaming back into the game. I’ll never forget those few minutes.
4) 22nd April 2023 – Altrincham (a). Unfortunately, as with so much of Asa’s time in yellow, it was just short of being good enough. That weariness plagued him, and in injury time he hauled down an onrushing attacker in the box. It was a clear penalty, converted, and all the hope that had been accrued was punctured in an instant.
5) 20th April 2024 – Havant and Waterlooville (h). Almost a year on, Asa staged another of his great comebacks. This time, to his absolute credit, he slotted in at centre half and – while nobody could claim he completely shored up the defence – he certainly papered over some pretty significant leakages. A winning penalty and a clean sheet against Hampton & Richmond, a stoic performance away to Truro and a raucous win at Taunton will all stick long in the memory from that run-in. We have to thank him for the huge part he played in ensuring that the slide didn’t continue.
However, the best memory I will hold of Asa from that season came in the final game. The Popside was typically lairy that day – it was very ‘last day of school’ vibes. One fan, eager to cash in on the general air of banter, shouted at an opponent forward “how have you been beaten by him? He’s forty!!” to which our distinguished leader responded, in his lyrical Brummie twang, “I’m thirty seven!!!”. Bless him. His spell at Torquay has been defined by his age, by his ability (or lack thereof) to continue at the requisite level. It’s only right that, in his final game at Plainmoor, he managed to settle that particular score.
It’s important not to get carried away: Asa captained us to relegation from the Conference. That is, without question, a rank old thing to have on the CV and will limit his potential for true stardom in the eyes of the fanbase. Indeed, he has never been a particularly talented footballer. He never lit games up, dazzled with skill, or sparkled with twinkle-toes on the pitch. At times, his limitations were deeply frustrating.
But an inescapable fact is that, despite this, he always improved a Torquay team when he walked into one. For years, Johnson’s midfields looked utterly bereft without him, and far more accomplished with him. By the end, he had the same effect on Downes’ defences. I wish I was able to pinpoint a reason for this, something tactical and clever that he always did, but I can’t. I think it’s more instinctive than that: he just knew the game, knew his own constraints, and maximised his ability when so many around him squandered theirs. He was the leader of the best two teams we’ve seen in yellow in a decade: a team that brought us genuine glory, and a team that was so nearly good enough. For this, we should be extremely grateful.
I will always, in a way, wish my captain was Asa Hall.
HALL TUFC STATS – APPEARANCES 192, GOALS 45, ASSISTS 13
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