Jeff Hall

Timeline

"ENGLAND CAP CRITICALLY ILL WITH POLIO.
"Jeffrey Hall, Birmingham City's English Internationalist right back, who is in Little Bromwich Isolation Hospital suffering from polio, was thought last night to be slightly improved. A bulletin issued by the hospital stated:-"There has been very little change in his condition during the day, but there has possibly been some slight improvement, although his condition still gives rise to acute anxiety." Hall, aged 29, who is in an iron lung, has had three operations since his admission to the hospital on Monday night. Birmingham City's two Easter matches with Arsenal and one with Blackburn Rovers have been postponed. There is a doubt, too, about the club's games at Newcastle on April 4 and at home to Bolton on April 8. Birmingham's centre-half, Trevor Smith, is in bed with a severe cold and a temperature of 104. Doctors are keeping a close watch on him. In addition two of the club's directors and a Birmingham football writer who travelled back with the team from Portsmouth have been told to rest at home for the next 10 days. Hall, who was taken ill on Monday, played against Portsmouth on Saturday and on Sunday appeared in a televised five-a-side competition at West Bromwich. Two Leeds United forwards who took part in the five-a-side event, Revie, an English Internationalist, and Cush, an Irish cap, were sent home by their club doctor yesterday as a precaution They were also told not to take violent exercise for some days and they are expected to miss the Easter matches against Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Cush lunched with Hall, and Revie talked to him." - The Glasgow Herald, Wednesday, 25 March 1959
"Jeffrey Hall, who is critically ill with poliomyeltitis, was stated last night to have had a better day and to have maintained his strength. There has been no further spread of the paralysis. Hall was yesterday taken out of an iron lung and is now using a lighter breathing apparatus." - The Glasgow Herald, Thursday, 26 March 1959
"It was stated at Little Bromwich Isolation Hospital yesterday that there was no change in the condition of Jeffrey Hall." - The Glasgow Herald, Friday, 27 March 1959
"A slight improvement was reported last night in the condition of Jeffrey Hall at Little Bromwich Isolation Hospital. It was stated that his temperature had fallen during Thursday night and that he had had a comfortable day." - The Glasgow Herald, Saturday, 28 March 1959
"Jeffrey Hall was reported last night to be very weak. A bulletin from Little Bromwich Hospital, Birmingham, said:-"The slight improvement in Hall's condition has not been maintained. His temperature has risen again and his general condition is weaker."." - The Glasgow Herald, Monday, 30 March 1959
"Jeffrey Hall "passed a restful day and his condition is unchanged," a hospital bulletin stated yesterday." - The Glasgow Herald, Tuesday, 31 March 1959
"Jeff had played for Birmingham City in a 1-1 draw with Portsmouth in late March 1959. He was back at his home with wife Dawn when he complained of feeling unwell and was taken to hospital - where doctors diagnosed polio.  Despite being super-fit, Jeff was unable to fight off the virus and he died on April 4.
"His death sparked an extraordinary response from the public. They were shocked that a young, healthy professional footballer could fall victim to polio and began clamouring for a vaccine. The rush for immunisation was given a further boost when Dawn went on TV to talk about her sad loss. She also made a record that was translated into several different languages and sent all over the world. The response was amazing.
"Schoolchildren were marched class-by-class to their local clinics to take Jonas Salk's vaccine, an impregnated sugar lump to swallow rather than a jab in the arm which had been the other less popular option. Emergency clinics were set up across Britain as polio dominated the headlines and newsreels. Soon, with demand exploding, extra vaccine supplies had to be flown in from the US. The result was a generation vaccinated against a killer disease, saving potentially many thousands of lives." - The Sunday Mercury.

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] &

Club Career

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].

England Career