Sandy Hall

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameAlexander Noble "Sandy"•Hall
Used nameSandy•Hall
Born3 December 1880 in Aberdeen, Scotland (GBR)
Died25 September 1943 in Toronto, Ontario (CAN)
AffiliationsGalt FC, Cambridge (CAN)
NOC Canada
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

Born in Scotland, Sandy Hall worked as a granite cutter prior to emigrating to Canada in 1901. Seeking work in the construction industry, he ended up in Galt, Ontario, where he joined the local football team. In 1904 Galt FC defeated a team from the University of Toronto to earn a trip to that year’s Summer Olympics in St. Louis, where they defeated two American squads, Christian Brothers; College and St. Rose Parish, and became the inaugural Olympic football champions. Hall was not only the the only non-Canadian on the team, but also the first Olympic champion born in Scotland.

After the 1904 Olympics, he moved back to Europe, this time to Berlin, but he returned to Scotland and England in 1907. He played for several years in the First Division in Britain, at first with Newcastle United, and later with Dundee and Dunfermline Athletic. He never achieved much success in professional football, but did earn accolades for saving a drowing boy in 1912. His athletic career was interrupted by World War I and he served for several months as an artillery gunner, before being sent home due to illness. He continued to coach and play football to a limited degree after the war and eventually returned to Canada permanently in 1923, at which point he retired from the sport and lived the remained of his life in relative obscurity. His youngest son, Tom Hall, became the world’s first recipient of a successful single lung transplant.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1904 Summer Olympics Football (Football) CAN Sandy Hall
Football, Men (Olympic) Galt Football Club 1 Gold