Harold Hooper (14 June 1933 – 26 August 2020) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as an

outside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He made more than 300 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, and represented England at under-23 and 'B' international level.

Life and career

Hooper was born in

Pittington Pittington is a village and civil parish in County Durham, in England. It is situated a few miles north-east of Durham. The population as taken at the 2011 census was 2,534. Pittington is made up of the neighbouring settlements of Low Pittingto ...

, County Durham. He played football for Hylton Colliery Juniors and for the Durham youth side before joining

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in November 1950 when his father, also named

Harry Hooper Harry Bartholomew Hooper (August 24, 1887 – December 18, 1974) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Hooper batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Hooper was born in Bell Station, Ca ...

, was appointed assistant trainer at the club. He played for the reserve team in the

London Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

before making his debut in

on 3 February 1951, at the age of 17 years 7 months, at home to Barnsley in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. West Ham won 4–2, and Hooper himself came close to scoring eight minutes from time, when "Barnsley's Pat Kelly had to stretch like elastic to push Harry's 25-yard drive over the bar". The 1954–55 season saw Hooper make 41 league appearances for West Ham, one short of being an ever-present. This included a game against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

on the afternoon of his wedding. He was made captain for the day and West Ham won the game 2–1. He played a total of 119 league games for the club, scoring 39 goals. Hooper, an England under-23 and England 'B' international, was named as a reserve for the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzer ...

squad but did not travel, and never won a full international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

. He represented the Football League in games against the Irish League in 1954, and the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

in 1955. He also played for the London XI in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup group stage game against the

Basel XI , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

on 4 June 1955, a 5–0 victory. Hooper moved to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

for £25,000 on 22 March 1956. He scored 19 goals in 39 league matches for Wolves, before his departure in December 1957. He then joined

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

for a fee of around £20,000, spending nearly three years at the club and winning a runners-up medal in the 1960 Fairs Cup. He scored five times in the competition, including a consolation goal in the 4–1 loss to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

in the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. In 1960, Hooper returned to the north-east, joining Sunderland for a fee of £18,000. He went on to play non-league football with Kettering Town, Dunstable Town and Heanor Town before retiring. Hooper died on 26 August 2020 after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

Notes

References

External links

*
West Ham profile
at ''westhamstats.info''
Sunderland profile
at ''thestatcat.co.uk'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Harry 1933 births 2020 deaths Footballers from County Durham English footballers England under-23 international footballers England B international footballers Association football wingers Hylton Colliery Welfare F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Heanor Town F.C. players Dunstable Town F.C. players 1954 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players London XI players English Football League representative players People from Pittington People with Alzheimer's disease