Bob Hazell

Hazell 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] He played 13 games in the first half of the 1978–79 campaign before transferring to Queens Park Rangers for a £240,000 fee, who had just been relegated into the Second Division.

In 1979, 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.[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.[6] 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.[7] Promotion was finally achieved in 1982–83, as Rangers won the Second Division title by a ten-point margin.

Hazell transferred to First Division rivals Leicester City in September of the 1983–84 campaign for a fee of £100,000.[8] He helped Gordon Milne's "Foxes" to post a 15th-place finish in 1984–85, but became plagued by injury problems. 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 left Filbert Street and 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.[9]

He joined Port Vale in December 1986.[1] 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][10] He went on to serve as club captain, setting an example with his performances whilst commanding respect with his mentality and presence.[11] He was the first black player to captain the club.[12] 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".[13] Hazell was a regular feature in the first eleven 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]