Mike Hooper

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mike Hooper
Personnel
Surname Michael Dudley Hooper
birthday February 10, 1964
place of birth Bristol ,  England
size 188 cm
position goalkeeper
Juniors
Years station
Mangotsfield United
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1983-1985 Bristol City 1 (0)
1985 Wrexham AFC 34 (0)
1985-1993 Liverpool FC 51 (0)
1990-1991 →  Leicester City  (loan) 14 (0)
1993-1996 Newcastle United 25 (0)
1995 →  Sunderland AFC  (loan) 0 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Michael Dudley "Mike" Hooper (born February 10, 1964 in Bristol ) is a former English football goalkeeper . The redhead was employed at Liverpool FC and Newcastle United in the late 1980s and early 1990s , but never got beyond the role of substitute there permanently.

Athletic career

First professional positions (1983–1985)

Hooper came after first experience in non-league football for Mangotsfield United - the club he had played for during his student days at the University of Bristol - the fourth division Bristol City . There he had already stood between the posts in the youth team as a 14-year-old student and after his first professional contract at the turn of the year 1983/84 and promotion to the third highest division, he played his first and only league game for on December 1, 1984 against Lincoln City the "Robins". Hooper moved free of charge in February 1985 to the Welsh and the fourth English division active AFC Wrexham . There he showed his talent for the first time as an agile goalkeeper, especially when it comes to flanks, by guarding the case in 38 competitive games until October 1985. He was noticed by the sporting management of the first division club FC Liverpool and so an agreement was quickly reached in autumn regarding the obligation of a substitute goalkeeper for Bruce Grobbelaar .

Liverpool FC (1985-1993)

Compared to Grobeelaar, Hooper represented the complete opposite. While the extroverted goalkeeper had a tendency to spectacular actions in the game, the young redhead mostly remained calm and steadfast. Although he was often used in the reserve team, he was largely spared the fate of his predecessor Bob Bolder , who had not previously played in a single league game. For the first time he presented himself on a prominent stage in the Charity Shield game in 1986, when he represented the injured Grobbelaar against FC Everton in the second half. He then guarded the goal of the "Reds" in the first eight competitive games of the 1986/87 season before Grobbelaar recaptured his place. For a next series, Hooper did not start again until the season 1988/89 and in this case coach Kenny Dalglish initially trusted him after Grobbelaar's health report. Two mistakes in the game against Sheffield Wednesday and the close title race with Arsenal FC in the season caused Dalglish to restore the old marginal order.

Without being used in the 1989/90 season for Liverpool FC, the club loaned out to the second division team Leicester City from September 1990 . There he conceded ten goals straight away in the first two games, but that was more attributed to the generally holey defensive network in Leicester than to the hapless "keeper". And so his chances increased again when the new trainer Graeme Souness opened up more opportunities for him, especially since he increasingly saw a security risk in the sometimes unpredictable Grobeelaar and even suspended him at short notice in October 1991. But after only two games, Hooper injured himself at what was probably the worst time of his career, which in turn gave Grobbelaar the opportunity to return. He briefly moved back to the starting line-up after a hand injury to the goalkeeper, but when Grobbelaar was nominated for the FA Cup final in 1992 as "number 1", Hooper lost his patience and even turned down his squad nomination. When a promising talent from Watford FC joined the club in the form of David James , his prospects continued to deteriorate, although the newcomer initially had difficulty adjusting and Hooper replaced Grobbelaar, who was often with the Zimbabwean national team . In September 1993, he finally moved to first division rivals Newcastle United for a fee of 550,000 pounds .

Newcastle United (1993-1996)

Under coach Kevin Keegan , Hooper hoped for a fresh start with the newly promoted Newcastle team and with a 3-0 home win against the ex-club from Liverpool in November 1993, he quickly came to a kind of personal satisfaction. The "Magpies" surprisingly stormed into the top half of the table before their form waned towards the end of the season. The increasingly insecure-looking Hooper found himself exposed to some criticism from his own supporters and finally in February 1994 he lost his regular place again to the audience favorite Pavel Srníček . Relegated back to the bench, Hooper had to contend with injuries, illnesses and weight problems. On his last appearance for Newcastle he set another highlight when he saved a Jürgen Klinsmann penalty in the 3-3 draw against Tottenham Hotspur after being substituted on. When Shaka Hislop , another goalkeeper, came to Newcastle in autumn 1995 , Hooper's days were numbered. He was loaned to Sunderland AFC , but did not play a single game there, and shortly thereafter resigned as an active professional athlete.

Title / Awards

literature

  • Barry J. Hugman: Premier League: The Players - A Complete Guide to Every Player 1992-93 . Tony Williams Publishing, 1992, ISBN 978-1-869833-15-2 , pp. 200 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Mike Hooper Liverpool FC 1985-1993" (Sporting Heroes)
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 978-0-09-180854-9 , pp. 102 .
  3. ^ "Mike Hooper Newcastle United FC 1993-1995" (Sporting Heroes)
personal data
SURNAME Hooper, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hooper, Michael Dudley
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English football goalkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Bristol