Former Leeds and Crystal Palace Player Ryan Hall Scores Direct From Kick-Off but Was This the Earliest Goal Ever?

A former EFL Championship footballer scored an amazing goal direct from the kick-off while playing for Croydon FC in the semi-finals of the London Senior Trophy on Saturday.

Thirty-six-year-old Ryan Hall - who began his senior career at Crystal Palace before later playing nine times for Leeds United in the 2012/13 season - found the net from the center spot just 2.31 seconds into Croydon's 3-0 win over Cockfosters Reserves.

A day later, Croydon shared a video of Hall's stunning strike via social media.

Alongside the footage, the club tweeted: "We've finally got a video of Ryan Hall scoring @Croydon_FC's first goal against @CockfostersDev in the London Senior Trophy.

"The goal was timed at 2.31 seconds, which we understand to be the fastest goal in senior football in the world."

Croydon ended the tweet by tagging the official account of the Guinness World Records, asking for confirmation that Hall had indeed scored the earliest goal in senior soccer history.

The answer is not yet clear.

Gavin Stokes scored just 2.1 seconds into a West of Scotland Super League First Division game between Maryhill and Clydebank in 2017.

The West of Scotland Super League was classified as a "junior" league at the time. However, this was based on its level within the Scottish football pyramid, not the age of the players.

Hall played just twice for Palace's first team.

He made his Eagles debut in a 1-1 draw against Queens Park Rangers in the Championship in November 2017 before featuring in a 2-0 defeat by Watford in the FA Cup in January 2008.

Eight of his nine games for Leeds came in the Championship.

Hall also played three Championship games for Rotherham United in 2014.

In the lower leagues, he has played for Lewes, Dagenham & Redbridge, Crawley Town, Bromley, Southend United, Sheffield United, Milton Keynes Dons, Notts County, Luton Town, Welling United and Eastbourne Borough.