Brackley’s Connor Hall keen to shock Stockport so he can face brother in FA Cup

Connor Hall is dreaming of firing Brackley Town into the FA Cup third round and giving himself the chance to kick his England international brother.

Hall is set to lead the line for the National League North outfit as they visit League One high-flyers Stockport in Saturday’s second-round clash.

The 26-year-old is the older brother of Newcastle left-back Lewis Hall, who made his England debut earlier this month.

The older sibling knows getting past the Hatters will be a tough task but has already told Lewis what to expect if they were to meet.

“I was speaking to Lewis earlier this week,” he told the PA news agency. “I said, ‘Imagine if we get to the third round and we draw you’. And I said to him, ‘The first time you get the ball, I can’t wait to absolutely clatter you’.

“He just laughed and said I wouldn’t get near him.

“It’s a long way off. To play Stockport at this stage of the season, is quite a privilege anyway, so anything after is a bonus.

“We could have got a couple of easier games than that in the draw.

“It would be a great feeling to win, we are very much a close group. It doesn’t matter who does what as long as we win as a team.

“That’s one thing that will give us an advantage, we are a tight-knit group. It could be a factor.

“If we win and get to the third round it’s a big moment for a non-league club, especially a part-time club. There’ll be lots of money for the club, which is important.”

Hall has played in the Football League for Bolton and Accrington is now juggling his career with a full-time job at a school.

And he accepts the days of dominating his younger brother in the back garden are gone.

“He got it in the garden when I was younger,” he added.

“I had to take advantage of that. He was a lot smaller, even when he started at Chelsea. I was 16 and he was nine or 10, I was getting the better of him so I knew it wasn’t going to last forever.

“We always used to go for a kickabout as we are a close family.

“He has done really well, since he was young, he has worked really, really hard, everything has been about football. As naturally gifted as he is, he has worked hard to improve on the stuff he wasn’t good at. So it’s fantastic for us to see.

“Even though he looks like a 13-year-old kid, he has turned into a proper man now.”

Connor could not make it to either of Hall’s appearances for England against Greece or the Republic of Ireland in the Nations League, but watched on television.

“We are delighted for him, I watched the Republic of Ireland game on telly but I didn’t manage to get there,” he added.

“It’s amazing, it’s quite surreal. One of my mates Max, who has been really good friends for years and years and went on holiday with us this summer, said it is like when you create your own player on Career Mode on FIFA and you put them in the England squad.

“Everyone is delighted for him, we are really happy with what he has achieved and we are looking forward to seeing what else he can do.”