Eddie Hopkinson

Eddie Hopkinson
Personnel
Surname	Edward Hopkinson
birthday	October 29, 1935
place of birth	Wheatley Hill ,  England
date of death	April 25, 2004
Place of death	Royton ,  England
size	175 cm
position	goalkeeper
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1951-1952	Oldham Athletic	3 (0)
1952-1970	Bolton Wanderers	519 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1957-1959	England	14 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Edward "Eddie" Hopkinson (born October 29, 1935 in Wheatley Hill , County Durham , † April 25, 2004 in Royton , Lancashire ) was an English football goalkeeper . Although only around 175 cm tall, the 14-time England international was part of the squad for the 1958 World Cup and played a total of 578 competitive games for the Bolton Wanderers between 1952 and 1969 .

Hopkinson began his football career in 1951 at the lower-class club Oldham Athletic , but after three competitive games in the Third Division South he moved to the first division team Bolton Wanderers, while he was only part-time footballer at Oldham, he gave up his job after three months at the Wanderers and became Fully professional, also because of his military service with the Royal Air Force , he only made his first division debut four years later, but immediately established himself as a top performer in the league. After six months, he was already the main goalkeeper of the English U-23 team and in October 1967 for the first time in the goal of the senior national team, but was pushed to the bench by Colin McDonald shortly before the 1958 World Cup . Hopkinson got a second chance as England's number one in 1959, but was ousted again and this time for good.

Although he only remained a substitute at the World Cup, the summer was his most successful when he was able to secure victory in the final of the FA Cup over Manchester United with some strong saves . After showing good performances until the mid-1960s, he was repeatedly pushed to the bench by younger players in the second half of the decade, before finally having to resign due to injury in 1969.

After his playing days, Hopkinson worked as a coach, first of the Wanderers' youth and reserve teams, from 1975 to 1979 as a cotrainer for Stockport County - where at the time his son Paul was under contract as a goalkeeper before returning to the Wanderers as a goalkeeping coach in 1979 . He later became a representative in the chemical industry.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ivan Ponting: " Eddie Hopkinson - Daring goalkeeper for England and Bolton Wanderers, " The Independent, April 27, 2004.