Bob Hazell
Personal information
Full name Robert Joseph Hazell[1]
Date of birth (1959-06-14) 14 June 1959 (age 64)[1]
Place of birth Kingston, Jamaica[1]
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1979 Wolverhampton Wanderers 33 (1)
1979–1983 Queens Park Rangers 106 (8)
1983–1986 Leicester City 41 (2)
1985 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 1 (0)
1986 Reading 4 (1)
1986–1989 Port Vale 81 (1)
Total 266 (13)
International career
1977 England Youth 2 (0)
1979 England U21 1 (1)
1978 England B 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Joseph Hazell (born 14 June 1959) is a former professional footballer who made 266 league appearances in a 12-year career in the English Football League between 1977 and 1989. Born in Jamaica, he represented England at under-21 level. His nephew is the former Oldham Athletic defender Reuben Hazell, and his son Rohan played non-League player.[3]

A big physical defender, he began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, featuring in the FA Youth Cup final in 1976. He moved on to Queens Park Rangers in 1979. He helped QPR to the Second Division title in 1982–83, and also played in the 1982 FA Cup final. He moved on to Leicester City in 1983, and had a brief spell back on loan at Wolves in 1985, before he signed with Reading. He joined Port Vale in December 1986, and was a regular for the "Valiants" until a back injury forced his retirement in June 1989.

Club career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Hazell was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and featured in the 1976 FA Youth Cup final, which ended in a 5–0 aggregate defeat to West Bromwich Albion. He turned professional at Molineux under Sammy Chung, and played 20 First Division games for Wolves in the 1977–78 season; despite only making his debut in December and being sent off in a 2–1 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup, he made such an impact in a central defensive partnership with John McAlle that he picked up the club's second ever Player of the Year award.[4] Hazell scored his first career goal in a 1–0 home win over Manchester City.[5] He played 13 games in the first half of the 1978–79 campaign. He played in a benefit match for West Bromwich Albion player Len Cantello, that saw a team of white players play against a team of black players.[6]

Queens Park Rangers

In September 1979, Hazell was transferred to Queens Park Rangers for a £240,000 fee, who had just been relegated into the Second Division.[5] Rangers finished fifth in 1979–80 under the stewardship of Tommy Docherty, two places and four points behind promoted Birmingham City. Following this disappointment, Terry Venables was put in charge at Loftus Road. The "Hoops" then dropped to eighth position in 1980–81, before rising to fifth again in 1981–82, just two points behind promoted Norwich City. Hazell played for QPR in the 1982 FA Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, and provided the assist for Terry Fenwick to make the original tie a 1–1 draw.[7] However, a Glenn Hoddle penalty was enough to hand "Spurs" a 1–0 victory in the replay. Perhaps his most impressive performance though came in the semi-final against West Bromwich Albion, where he marked Cyrille Regis out of the game.[8] Promotion was finally achieved in 1982–83, as Rangers won the Second Division title by a ten-point margin.[5]

Leicester City to Reading

Hazell transferred to First Division rivals Leicester City in September of the 1983–84 campaign for a fee of £100,000.[9] He helped Gordon Milne's "Foxes" to post a 15th-place finish in 1984–85, but became plagued by injury problems.[5] He had a brief loan spell at old club Wolves in 1985–86, but could do little to prevent Sammy Chapman's side from slipping into the Fourth Division. He was released from Filbert Street and played for Leeds United in the Yorkshire Cup.[5] He moved on to Second Division side Reading for the 1986–87 season, but made just four league appearances for Ian Branfoot's "Royals", before leaving Elm Park.[10] Reading wanted him on a short-term contract to cover for Paul Futcher, who was out with a fractured jaw.[5]

Port Vale

Hazell joined Port Vale in December 1986.[1] He was reluctant to join due to the club's dire league placement but was talked round by former Leicester teammate Mark Grew.[5] His signing proved to be another master-stroke by manager John Rudge, and along with defensive partner Phil Sproson, Hazell quickly shored up the "Valiants" defence before the end of season run-in to steer the club out of the Third Division relegation zone to a 12th-place finish.[1][11] He went on to serve as club captain, setting an example with his performances whilst commanding respect with his mentality and presence.[12] He was the first black player to captain the club.[13] He played 52 league and cup games in 1987–88, and gained some measure of revenge over Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup as he helped Vale to snatch a memorable 2–1 win; it was reported that he successfully intimidated Clive Allen by knocking him to the ground and telling him that "You’re going to get that for the next eighty-five minutes".[14]

Hazell was a regular feature in the first XI until he received a back injury in January 1989.[1] He made seventeen league appearances in Vale's 1988–89 promotion season, but injury meant he was unable to play in the play-off final victory over Bristol Rovers.[1] Unable to overcome a back injury, he was given a free transfer in June 1989, having made 100 club appearances in all competitions at Vale Park.[1] Chairman Bill Bell refused to pay up his contract as he wanted to try and sell Hazell on to another club, and so the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) decided to pay the remainder of his contract rather than try and take the club to court over the issue.[15]

International career

During his time at Wolves he represented the England Youth, playing two games in March 1977.[5] He scored for the under-21 team in a 2–1 victory over Denmark in February 1979.[5] He also played for the B team in 1978.[15]

Style of play

"Big Bob was your typical 'throw back' defender who took no prisoners and would kill to prevent a goal. On the ball he had much more skill and ability than he was given credit for, but it was his physicality that scared opposing forwards to death. This monster of a man had a particularly light, soft-spoken voice. But I never heard anyone take the mickey out of him!"

— Robbie Earle writing in 2012.[16]

Post-retirement

After leaving the game, Hazell attempted a job selling life insurance but fell into a deep depression.[15] He took up Transcendental Meditation and became a sports prevention manager in Birmingham, working to help rehabilitate young offenders through sport.[15][8]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[17]
Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1977–78 First Division 20 1 3 0 0 0 23 1
1978–79 First Division 13 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
Total 33 1 3 0 0 0 36 1
Queens Park Rangers 1979–80 Second Division 29 1 1 1 4 0 34 2
1980–81 Second Division 8 2 0 0 2 0 10 2
1981–82 Second Division 24 2 4 0 4 0 32 2
1982–83 Second Division 39 3 1 0 2 0 42 3
1983–84 First Division 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Total 106 8 6 1 12 0 124 9
Leicester City 1983–84 First Division 27 2 1 0 2 0 30 2
1984–85 First Division 14 0 0 0 2 0 16 0
Total 41 2 1 0 4 0 46 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 1985–86 Third Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Reading 1986–87 Second Division 4 1 0 0 1 0 5 1
Port Vale 1986–87 Third Division 21 1 0 0 3 1 24 2
1987–88 Third Division 43 0 6 0 3 0 52 0
1988–89 Third Division 17 0 3 0 4 0 24 0
Total 81 1 9 0 10 1 100 2
Career total 266 13 19 1 27 1 312 15

Honours

Individual

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Queens Park Rangers

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 132. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. ^ Dunk, Peter (1987). Rothmans football yearbook 1987-88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 294. ISBN 978-0356143545. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. ^ NonLeagueDaily.com Archived 1 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b "Wolves Heroes » Player of the Year". www.wolvesheroes.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Bob Hazell Interview". The Port Vale Beano. 60.
  6. ^ Adrian Chiles (17 November 2016). "The match that pitted white players against black players". BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  7. ^ a b "FA Cup final 1982". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Semi-final just a blur for Bob". Express & Star. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Bob Hazell | Leicester City career stats - FoxesTalk". FoxesTalk. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  10. ^ Brown, Neil. "BOB HAZELL". Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  11. ^ Baggaley, Mike (10 February 2017). "How Big Bob Hazell helped transform Port Vale". Staffordshire Sentinel. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  12. ^ Earle, Robbie (13 May 2020). "'You were shaking in your boots' - Robbie Earle on what makes good captain". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  13. ^ "Black History Month: Port Vale Football Club". www.port-vale.co.uk. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  14. ^ "A collection of Port Vale hard men from yesteryear - onevalefan.co.uk". onevalefan.co.uk. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d "The Bob Hazell Interview (Part 2)". The Port Vale Beano. 61.
  16. ^ Earle, Robbie (12 January 2012). "Here's my promotion-winning Vale team". The Sentinel. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  17. ^ Bob Hazell at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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