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Article: Profile: Sir John Hall: Ruthless pursuit of a goal
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- August 4, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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In the early Seventies, when John Hall was brusquely buying and
selling his way towards his first property million, an unsettling
dilemma began to colour his Saturday afternoons off. Since the age
of eight, he had spent much of this time at St James' Park in
Newcastle, watching a stylish football team fade from greatness.
His working life, however, had shifted south to Sunderland, home of
Newcastle United's most despised, and rising, rivals. He had
renovated his first run-down terraces in Sunderland in 1965; now he
lived there too. Should he switch allegiances? In 1973 Hall spotted
a solution: he bought season tickets for both.
Nowadays, John Hall's identity is not so stretched. He is ...