Alfie Hale

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Alfie Hale
Personal information
Full name Alfred Hale
Date of birth (1939-08-28) 28 August 1939 (age 86)
Place of birth Waterford, Ireland
Height 5 ft 6.5 in (1.69 m)
Position Inside forward
Youth career
1949–1956 St. Joseph's Juniors
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1956–1957 Waterford 5 (5)
1957–1958 Cork Hibernians ? (1)
1958–1960 Waterford 34 (21)
1960–1962 Aston Villa 5 (1)
1962–1965 Doncaster Rovers 119 (42)
1965–1966 Newport County 34 (21)
1966–1974 Waterford 165 (111)
1974–1975 Cork Celtic ? (9)
1975–1976 St Patrick's Athletic ? (3)
1976–1977 Limerick 7 (2)
1981–1982 Thurles Town 22 (1)
1982–1983 Waterford 8 (0)
International career
1962–1973 Republic of Ireland 14 (2)
Managerial career
1969–1970 Waterford United
1974–1975 Cork Celtic
1981–1982 Thurles Town
1982–1988 Waterford United
1988–1989 Cobh Ramblers
1991–1993 Waterford United
1995–1999 Kilkenny City
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alfred Hale (born 28 August 1939) is an Irish former football player and coach who played for several clubs in both the League of Ireland and the English League, most notably, Waterford, Aston Villa, Doncaster Rovers and Cork Celtic. During his career, Hale scored 153 goals in the League of Ireland putting him tenth on the all time top scorers list. [1] As an international, Hale also played for the Republic of Ireland.

Contents

After retiring as a player, Hale managed several teams in the League of Ireland, most notably, Cork Celtic, Waterford United and Kilkenny City. In June 2003, Hale and such other notable Waterford footballers as Davy Walsh, Paddy Coad, Peter Thomas, Jim Beglin and John O'Shea were honoured by the Waterford City Council and presented with a Waterford Crystal vase. [2]

Alfie also has relations with two sisters and further extended family living in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Early life

Alfie Hale was born on 28 August 1939. [3] The youngest of five boys, he grew up on Ard na Gréine road in Waterford. [4] Although he lived next door to Waterford's hurling pitch, Walsh Park, his family were all footballers. Hale's father, Alfie Sr, and his uncles, Tom and John, all played in the half-back line for Waterford in the 1930s. Alfie's brothers Georgie, Dixie and Harry all played for Waterford A.F.C. as well as various grades at international level. [2] [5] Hale joined his local club St Joseph’s and, although the youngest grade at the time was under-15, began playing at ten years old. [6]

Club career

Waterford

Hale joined Waterford A.F.C., a club where he would go on to spent much of his playing and coaching career. At the age of seventeen Hale, along with Peter Fitzgerald, made a League of Ireland scoring debut at Kilcohan Park on St Patrick's Day 1957 in a 3–1 win over Bohemians. [7] [8] Hale was selected again, 24 hours later, for Waterford's game against Evergreen United in the Munster Senior Cup final. Waterford won the match 5–1 with Hale contributing two goals and an assist. [9] [10] Sources have stated that Hale scored a brace on his home debut against Bohemians, that the match took place on Easter Sunday in 1958 and that the Munster Cup final came against Cork Hibernians where he scored a hat-trick. [6] However, newspapers at the time contradict this version of events, detailing Hale's debut in 1957, Waterford's loss to Transport on Easter Sunday 1958 and Waterford's loss to Limerick in the 1958 Munster Senior Cup semi-final. [8] [11] [12]

Hale joined a team that already featured his brothers, Dixie Hale and George Hale, who protected the youngster as he established himself as a prolific goalscorer and important player. [2] Although George would depart for Cork Hibernians by December 1957, the following season Waterford appointed their first professional manager in Alex Stevenson. [13] [14] [15] Hale credits Stevenson — an ex-Everton and Rangers player who was also a former Irish international — with playing a big part in his development. [2] However, Hale suffered his first setback as, ten days before the 1959 FAI Cup final, the young forward tore ligaments in his knee. Waterford went on to lose the cup final to St Patrick’s Athletic after a replay. [16] [2] [17] Hale finished the 1958–59 season as the second highest top scorer with 18, one ahead of teammate Peter Fitzgerald. [18]

His performances began to attract more attention and in 1959–60 he was selected for the League of Ireland amateur team in their 1960 Olympic Games qualifiers. Although they lost to Great Britain, Hale scored in the 6–3 victory over the Netherlands. He was also selected a month later for the professional League of Ireland team, in a match against the German Hesse league, and once again Hale scored. [6] [15] [19] This brought Hale to the attention of the new Aston Villa manager, Joe Mercer. Mercer had been advised by Stevenson, his teammate at Everton, to watch Hale and Mercer was in attendance for the Dutch and German games. Aston Villa expressed their interest but Hale, despite being an amateur player who was free to sign with Villa, instead chose to sign a professional contract with Waterford. [15] [6]

Mercer took Hale over to Wembley to see the 1960 FA Cup final and offered him a contract. [6] Hale didn't want to leave Waterford but relented after pressure from Waterford F.C., who needed to sell, and encouragement from his father. [15] [2]

Aston Villa

In June 1960, aged 19, Hale was sold by Waterford United to Aston Villa for a fee of £4,500. However, Hale failed to establish himself in the Villa first team and went on to make just 7 first team appearances, scoring 2 goals. Despite this Hale won his first international cap for the Republic of Ireland while at Villa. [20]

Doncaster Rovers

Hale signed for Doncaster Rovers in the summer of 1962 and made his debut for the club on 18 August in a 2–0 defeat to Brentford in the Football League Fourth Division. He scored four goals in a single game as he helped Rovers to a record league win when they beat Darlington. In three seasons with Rovers, Hale made 119 league appearances and scored 42 goals. He also made 7 appearances for Rovers in the League Cup and 9 in the FA Cup, scoring 2 further goals. [3]

Return to Waterford

After seven seasons in the English League, Hale returned to Waterford in 1966. Together with Johnny Matthews, he became a central figure in a Waterford team that dominated the League of Ireland, winning three titles in a row from 1967–68 to 1969–70. In 1968, Hale and his Waterford teammates took on newly crowned European champions, Manchester United. [21] Former Manchester United player, Shay Brennan, became player–manager of Waterford in 1970. In 1971–72 Hale headed the winner as Waterford beat Cork Hibernians 3–2 in dramatic circumstances at Flower Lodge to claim their fifth league title in six seasons. [22] In both 1971–72 and 1972–73 Hale finished joint top goalscorer in the league as Waterford finished champions, scoring 22 and 20 goals respectively. [1] He was awarded a benefit game in August 1971. [23]

He scored twice against AC Omonia in the 1972–73 European Cup.

Cork Celtic

Hale signed for the Cork outfit in February 1974 and scored on his debut against Shamrock Rovers. [24] He made two appearances in the 1974–75 European Cup after guiding the club to their only league title in the 1973–74 League of Ireland season.

International career

Between 1962 and 1973, Hale made 14 appearances and scored 2 goals for the Republic of Ireland national football team. [25] He made his senior international debut on 8 April 1962 in a 3–2 home defeat against Austria. [26] Hale went on to score twice for the Republic of Ireland, both goals coming in 1968, against Poland and then Austria. He made his last appearance for the Republic of Ireland on 21 October 1973 as a substitute in a 1–0 home win against Poland. [27]

Managerial career

As a manager, Hale would return to Waterford United for two further spells. During the first of these, between 1982 until 1986, he guided the club to victory in the League of Ireland Cup in 1985 and to the FAI Cup final in 1986. He returned to manage the club again between 1991 and 1993 and helped them achieve promotion from the First Division in 1992. In 2005, he briefly returned to Waterford United once again, this time acting as special advisor.

Aside from Waterford, Hale has also coached several other teams in the League of Ireland. He was appointed player/manager of Thurles Town in May 1981 [28] where he made history by becoming the League of Ireland's oldest ever goalscorer, and also the only player to score in four different League of Ireland decades. As manager of Cobh Ramblers, Hale signed Roy Keane upon the recommendation of youth team coach, Eddie O'Rourke. [29]

Between 1995 and 1999 he was manager of Kilkenny City and in 1997, with a team that included his nephew Richie Hale, Brendan Rea, Paul Cashin and Pascal Keane, he guided them to the First Division title. [30] [31] After leaving Kilkenny, Hale remained active in junior football working with Waterford Crystal F.C. and Tramore F.C, winning the first league in 50 years with Tramore in 2000–01.

Legacy

As of 2019, Hale is the tenth highest League of Ireland goalscorer of all time with 153 league goals. [1] [32]

At the same time as managing various League of Ireland clubs, Hale also established himself as a businessman in the Waterford area. In 1978, he opened a sports shop, later trading under the name Alfie Hale's Intersport and located at Arundal Square. [33] He also owns a chain of pubs including Alfie Hale's Bar in Ballybricken [34] and Alfie Hale's Sports Bar on Lombard Street. [35] In December 2008, he settled with the Revenue Commissioners for over €100,000. [36]

Honours

Player

Waterford

Player manager

Cork Celtic

Manager

Waterford

Kilkenny City

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Top goalscorers in the League of Ireland". RSSSF. Archived 6 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fennessy, Paul (26 January 2020). "'The senior guys, they didn't like me, they didn't want an Irish guy coming over'". The 42. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Alfie Hale: inside forward 1962–1965". Doncasterrovers.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  4. "Alfie Hale: A Sporting Life". The Munster Express. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  5. "Cork Hibs Can With A Win | Waterford Hale-less". archive.irishnewsarchive.com. 17 August 1957. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Feature - Hale enthusiastic about Waterford's future". www.leagueofireland.ie. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  7. The Irish Times . Dublin. 18 March 1957. ISSN   0791-5144 https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1957/0318/Pg004.html#Ar00412:2C67E82EA7FD31969435F6AA2D57B131B7C62F27E83027FD3037E83397FD2FD85834186D .{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. 1 2 "Newcomers Did Well For Waterford". archive.irishnewsarchive.com. Irish Independent. 18 March 1957. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  9. "Waterford Outplay Evergreen To Retain Munster Cup [column 1]". archive.irishnewsarchive.com. 19 March 1957. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  10. "Waterford Outplay Evergreen To Retain Munster Cup [column 2]". archive.irishnewsarchive.com. 19 March 1957. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  11. "Depleted Waterford Rallied In Vain". archive.irishnewsarchive.com. 7 April 1958. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  12. "Limerick Rally Too Much For Waterford". archive.irishnewsarchive.com. 31 January 1958. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  13. "Hale Makes Debut For Cork Hibernians". archive.irishnewsarchive.com. 6 December 1957. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  14. "'Hat-trick' By O'Connor Did Not Save Hibs". archive.irishnewsarchive.com. 3 February 1958. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Hale, Alfie (17 July 2025). "This Football Life - Alfie Hale (Part 1)". Green Shoots - A History of Irish Football (Interview). Interviewed by Kehlan Kirwan.
  16. "I thought this game would get easier... A quick 18: Alfie Hale". Irish Independent. 12 September 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  17. "DUBLIN - CUP FINAL REPLAY". British Pathé. 27 April 1959. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  18. Thomas (1 December 2021). "1958-59 League of Ireland season". League of Ireland Seasons. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  19. Farrell, Gerry (16 September 2019). "Hessenliga". A Bohemian Sporting Life. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  20. Aston Villa site [ dead link ]
  21. McCauley, Ciaran (13 November 2023). "How Bobby Charlton played four games for Irish club Waterford FC". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  22. Mackey, Liam (29 May 2020). "League of Ireland Legends: Alfie Hale - The man with the goal-den touch". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  23. www.irishtimes.com (subscription required)
  24. "Glory days for Cork Celtic when Leeside soccer ruled the League of Ireland". 25 November 2020.
  25. "Ireland's International Players | Football Association of Ireland Official Website". www.fai.ie. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  26. "On This Day in the LOI | April 8". www.leagueofireland.ie. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  27. "Alfie Hale". International Mens Statistics. Soccerscene.ie. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  28. Irish Times (subscription required)
  29. Fennessy, Paul (9 May 2020). "'The club's view is that you shouldn't sign him at all' - Roy Keane's bumpy road to stardom". The 42. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  30. Spillane, Trevor (16 July 2015). "Galaxy of City stars are ready to shine again at Buckley Park". www.kilkennypeople.ie. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  31. Fennessy, Paul (26 January 2020). "'The senior guys, they didn't like me, they didn't want an Irish guy coming over'". The 42. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  32. "Ireland – List of Topscorers". Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  33. Alfie Hale's Intersport Archived 7 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  34. Alfie Hale's Bar
  35. Alfie Hale's Sports Bar
  36. "Former Ireland player to pay Revenue over €100,000". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 June 2021.