Nick Woltemade of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's second goal with teammate Lewis Hall during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Chelsea at St James' Park on December 20, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)placeholder image
Nick Woltemade of Newcastle United celebrates scoring his team's second goal with teammate Lewis Hall during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Chelsea at St James' Park on December 20, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Lewis Hall progressed through the academy at Chelsea before joining Newcastle United.
Lewis Hall has revealed why he felt it was best to leave Chelsea and join Newcastle United.
Hall joined the Magpies on an initial season-long loan in the summer of 2023 before making the move permanent for an initial £28million last year.
The Slough left-back joined the Blues’ academy at under-8s level and progressed through the ranks to make his senior debut in an FA Cup tie against Chesterfield in January 2022.
Ten months later, Hall made his Premier League debut away to Newcastle and would later join the St James’ Park club in the following summer.
Lewis Hall on his decision to leave Chelsea and join Newcastle United
The 21-year-old lined up against his former in Saturday’s 2-2. Reflecting on the move, Hall told the matchday programme: "The club was unbelievable for me, but I think I left at the perfect time.
“The direction that this club wants to go in, how everything was unfolding at Chelsea at the time, it was the right time for me to come here.
"The way Chelsea wanted to go forward with lots and lots of young talent, it was best for my career that I made this move and I think it has panned out really well for me.
"Obviously having family connections to Newcastle was a really big factor. But everything footballing-wise had to be right as well. I really believed in it at the time and I think it's worked out perfectly.
"I've achieved a lot of things which I don't think I would have been able to achieve if I would have stayed there. But Chelsea has played a massive part in helping me to be that player who got the move in the first place and I'm always grateful for that.”
Lewis Hall’s early struggles at Newcastle United a distant memory
During his opening six months on Tyneside, Hall barely featured for Newcastle, leading to questions over whether he would indeed trigger the performance criteria to make the transfer permanent.
But since breaking into the team in March 2024, Hall hasn’t looked back.
“It took me a while to settle in and be myself, it was my first proper big move,” Hall added. “It was a lot different to what I expected it to be.
“On the pitch, it was just about growing and getting used to the style of play originally. Me being so young, it took me a while to do, and there were some things I had to improve on defensively.
“I spent a few months with the coaches trying to improve on that. I thought I was getting better and better in training and it got to a point where i just had to wait until I got my opportunities - which came at the back end of the season in my first season.
“I had a small run of games together which gave me that confidence to go into the next season and have a good season.”
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