Hall hoping to follow in Ryan's footsteps

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Young goalkeeper would love to emulate his fellow Australian and play in the first team.

2026-10-20T04:30+01:00

Steven Hall is following his dream to try and become a Premier League goalkeeper. 📷Simon Roe.

Young goalkeeper Steven Hall is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Mat Ryan by playing for the Albion first team.

The Australia U23 international arrived from his hometown club, Adelaide United, in 2024, where he became the youngest goalkeeper in A-League history, having made his debut aged just 16 years and 350 days.

Following his move to Sussex, Hall has cemented his place in the Albion U21 side and has also been involved regularly with the senior matchday squad. His next target is to make inroads towards a first-team debut and emulate his compatriot Ryan, who made 121 Premier League appearances for the Seagulls.

“Mat was a hero of mine, given he was the Australia No. 1 when I was growing up,” Steven revealed. “He was someone I was watching and idolising. I haven’t had the chance to speak to him about Brighton yet, and I wish I could train with him because I get the stories from Shannon [Ruth, Albion U21 coach], who was the goalkeeper coach when Mat was here. He tells me how good he was and how professional he was.

“Coming here, I am following in his footsteps, but I want to make my own journey, my own career. Maybe that day will come when we do talk; maybe I’ll get a call-up to the senior Australia team and he’ll be there, but I have a lot of work ahead of me first.”

Hall had caught the eye of a number of clubs when he featured for the Australia U20 side in a competition in Marbella, Spain. He was a standout performer in games against France, Denmark and the Netherlands, and it was the Albion who won the race for a player who had appeared three times in the Adelaide United first team.

Steven, left, has regularly trained with Albion's first-team goalkeeper. 📷James Boardman.

“I’ve come all the way across the world to chase my dream of becoming a Premier League goalkeeper, and Brighton is a great club for that, given the players who have evolved from the academy into the first team,” the 21-year-old added. “When I became aware that Brighton were looking at me, I was very excited, and when I got the offer to move, it was a no-brainer. I couldn’t wait to sign.”

Hall is certainly moving in the right direction, given his regular U21 appearances and, crucially, his exposure to Fabian Hurzeler’s first-team squad this year.

“We had a few injuries, so I was pretty much third-choice keeper from January until the end of the season,” he says of his call-up. “So I got a bit of experience travelling with the team and warming up on Premier League matchdays, which was just an unreal experience.

“Even this season I’ve been pretty much training full-time with the first-team squad and been involved in the meetings. It’s good for me as a young keeper to learn from Jason Steele and Bart Verbruggen every day. Along with [goalkeeper coach] Jelle [Rouwelaar], it’s a really good environment to be in and to learn from all the experience that’s around me.”

Ruth says Hall is great to work with. “Steven played a big part in the team that won Premier League 2 last season and also had some valuable experiences with our first team squad in the second half of the year,” he said.

“He has shown an excellent level of professionalism both with us and Australia at youth level and we have been impressed with his progress since joining us. We’re delighted to continue to work with him.”

The 21-year-old made his A-League debut on New Year’s Day in 2022, becoming the youngest goalkeeper in the competition’s history.