Australian Football

A key member of Essendon's legendary Association sides of the 1890s, Alec 'Joker' Hall was a dynamic rover or half back flanker who went on to enjoy involvement with no fewer than seven top level clubs over a period spanning four decades. One of a select group of players to feature in all four of the Same Old's premiership teams between 1891 and 1894, he took a brief break from football during the late 1890s but resumed, as good as new, in 1898, by which time Essendon was in its second season of participation in the breakaway VFL.

Between 1898 and 1900, Hall played a total of 19 games and kicked 18 goals for Essendon, before spending the entire 1901 season with Preston, which at that stage in its history was a member of the Victorian Junior Football Association. In 1904 and 1905 he played with Essendon's Association side before making a single-game VFL comeback, this time with St Kilda, in 1906 (playing under the assumed name of Wyberg). He then spent several months in South Africa.

After returning from South Africa, Hall embarked on a coaching career that took in Melbourne (1907-9 and 1912-14), Richmond (1910), Williamstown (1915 and 1919), and finally Hawthorn (1925 - that club's first VFL season).

Author - John Devaney