Jack Hobbs (born 18 August 1988) is an English former professional
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 a
centre-back. He has played in the
English Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
and
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
for
Lincoln City,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
,
Scunthorpe United,
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
,
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
,
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
and
Bolton Wanderers.
A graduate of Lincoln City academy, Hobbs made one appearance for the
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
club in 2005 before signing for Liverpool of the Premier League. His playing time there was limited, so to gain first-team experience Liverpool
loaned him out to Scunthorpe United and Leicester City. He signed permanently with the latter in 2009 and went on to make more than 100 appearances in three seasons with the club. Hobbs joined Hull City two years later and was
club captain
The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...
for the
2011–12 season. He joined Nottingham Forest in 2013, initially on loan, before signing permanently the following year. He was released in 2018, with opportunities in the team limited by persistent injuries. He then joined Bolton Wanderers before being released in 2020. Hobbs made three appearances for the
England national under-19 team in 2007.
Hobbs returned to Lincoln City in September 2021 in his first coaching role, to assist with the club's academy.
Early life
Hobbs was born in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, Hampshire, and moved to the village of
Moulton
Moulton may refer to:
Places in the United Kingdom
;In England
*Moulton, Cheshire
* Moulton, Lincolnshire
**Moulton Windmill
* Moulton St Mary, Norfolk
* Moulton, Northamptonshire
** Moulton College, agricultural college
** Moulton Park, indus ...
, Lincolnshire during his youth. A student of
Spalding Grammar School
Spalding Grammar School (SGS), fully known as The Queen Elizabeth Royal Free Grammar School Spalding, is a boys' grammar school in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England.
History
The school was founded in 1588 by royal charter, applied for by a ...
, he played youth football for Moulton Harrox at the age of 10.
Club career
Lincoln City
Hobbs progressed through the
Lincoln City youth system and, at the age of 14, scored his first goal in his fourth appearance for the under-19 team in a 1–1 draw with
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
...
on 22 March 2003. He accepted a three-year scholarship with Lincoln in March 2004, commencing at the start of the
2004–05 season. He made his first-team debut on 15 January 2005 against
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...
, as a
substitute for
Matt Bloomer. At 16 years and 149 days, he became the club's youngest ever debutant, breaking a record that was previously held by
Shane Nicholson.
Liverpool
At the end of the season, Hobbs entered transfer negotiations with
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
club
Arsenal. However, the deal fell through because Arsenal demanded the removal of a sell-on clause from the transfer deal.
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
and
Bolton Wanderers also expressed their desire to sign the defender. He eventually signed for
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
on his 17th birthday on 18 August 2005 on a three-year professional contract. Commenting on the transfer, he said: "This is unbelievable. I'm still pinching myself and it is a real opportunity for me." He made his debut for the
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
in a 3–2 defeat to
Everton. Praising his performance, coach
Hugh McAuley said that he played "very well". He was also a part of the reserve squad which won the
2005–06 FA Youth Cup by beating
Manchester City 3–2 in the final.
Hobbs made his debut on 25 September 2007 as a substitute against
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
in the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
in a 4–3 win. He made his first start for Liverpool against
Cardiff City in the League Cup on 31 October, playing all 90 minutes, and gaining praise from pundits and teammates for his composed performance. On 2 December, Hobbs made his league debut against Bolton Wanderers, replacing
Jamie Carragher
James Lee Duncan Carragher (; born 28 January 1978) is an English football pundit and former footballer who played as a defender for Premier League club Liverpool during a career which spanned 17 years. A one-club man, he was Liverpool's v ...
in the 51st minute of a 4–0 home win. Six days later, he made his first league start in a 3–1 defeat away to Reading. On 25 January 2008, he signed for
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
club
Scunthorpe United on
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...
until the end of the
2007–08 season. He scored the first goal of his career on 15 February with a header from
Ian Morris'
cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
in the 23rd minute of a 3–2 defeat away to
Stoke City.
In his spell with Scunthorpe, Hobbs made nine appearances, scoring one goal.
Leicester City
![Hobbs 1988](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Hobbs_1988.png)
On 16 May 2008, ''
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...
'' wrote that Hobbs was indecisive about whether to fight for first-team opportunities at Liverpool or to join another club for more playing opportunities. On 25 May, Hobbs signed for
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
club
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
on loan for the
2008–09 season. On joining the club, he said he wanted to help Leicester win
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
to the Championship. He made his debut on 9 August in a 2–0 victory over
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
, when he came on as an 88th-minute substitute for
Aleksandar Tunchev
Aleksandar Blagov Tunchev ( bg, Александър Тунчев; born 10 July 1981) is a Bulgarian former footballer who played as a defender. He is currently head coach at Arda Kardzhali.
Club career Bulgaria
Tunchev started his career in h ...
.
Hobbs scored his first goal on 24 January 2009, with a header from
Steve Howard's flick-on in a 4–2 victory over
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
.
He was
red carded on 21 February in a match against Bristol Rovers for fouling
Darryl Duffy
Darryl Alexander Duffy (born 16 April 1984) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a striker for Stranraer. He began playing professionally in 2003 and has played for sixteen different teams across a number of countries. He played for Scotlan ...
. However, the resultant penalty by
Rickie Lambert
Rickie Lee Lambert (born 16 February 1982) is an English former professional Association football, footballer. During his career, he played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, before retiring in 2017. He won a number of persona ...
was saved by
Mark Bunn. Leicester manager
Nigel Pearson
Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, currently the manager of Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Shef ...
commented that the red card was unfortunate, as he believed the foul was not intentional. In his first season with the club, besides winning the League One title and achieving promotion to the Championship, Hobbs was also included in the
PFA Team of the Year.
He was also voted as the club's Young Player of the Year, as he made 44 appearances, in which his team conceded 37 goals.
Hobbs signed for Leicester City permanently on 24 April 2009 on a four-year contract. After signing, he said that he believed that with Leicester he could win promotion to the Premier League. He made his first appearance after signing permanently on 8 August against
Swansea City in a 2–1 home victory.
Playing alongside
Wayne Brown at
centre-back, Hobbs missed only two league matches in the
2009–10 season,
and made a total of 49 appearances.
At the end of the season, he won the Player of the Year award, and shared the Players' Player of the Year award with
Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to:
* Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist
* Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist
* Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...
.
[ On being named Player of the Year, Hobbs said that he was honoured to win award.]
Hull City
In the 2010–11 season, Hobbs played 30 times for Leicester City. However, with the arrival of Sol Bamba, he found his playing time increasingly limited. With speculation that Leicester would sign Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
defender Jeffrey Bruma on loan, new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson said that Hobbs could join another club. He joined Leicester's fellow Championship club Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
on 15 February 2011 on loan for the rest of the 2010–11 season. He made his debut a week later in a 1–0 away win against Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
. Failing to break into the team due to competition from James Chester
James Grant Chester (born 23 January 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and is a free agent.
Chester began his career with Manchester United but made only one appearance for the club. He had spells on loan at Peter ...
and Anthony Gerrard
Anthony Gerrard (born 6 February 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He made over 500 professional appearances in a career spent mainly in the English Football League, notably at Walsall where he won the 2006 ...
, Hobbs expressed his desire to return to Leicester once the loan spell ended. Nevertheless, he made 13 appearances for Hull during his loan spell.
On 30 June 2011, Hobbs signed for Hull permanently on a three-year contract. ''BBC Sport'' reported the transfer fee as an initial £850,000, potentially rising to £1 million in add-ons. He was also appointed as club captain
The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...
for the 2011–12 season. Hobbs made his debut as a permanent Hull player on 5 August in a 1–0 home defeat to Blackpool. On 11 February 2012, he scored his first league goal in three years in a 3–0 home victory over Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
, heading in a Robert Koren
Robert Koren (born 20 September 1980) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Koren earned 61 caps and scored five goals for the Slovenia national team between 2003 and 2011 and played at the 2010 FIFA World C ...
cross. During a match against Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
on 31 March, he injured himself while tackling Alex Nimely during first-half stoppage time. Two days later, it was announced that Hobbs would miss the rest of the season owing to the knee injury sustained during the match.
Recovering from injury, Hobbs made his return to the team on 9 December 2012 in a 2–1 defeat away to Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
, pairing with Alex Bruce at centre-back. He played 22 times for the club in the 2012–13 season, which saw Hull City promoted to the Premier League as Championship runners-up.
Nottingham Forest
After Hull City were promoted to the Premier League, the club informed Hobbs that he was no longer required. In July 2013, ''Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
'' reported that Championship club Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
were interested in signing him. He signed a loan deal with Nottingham Forest on 16 July 2013, with a condition that it become permanent on a two-year contract at the end of the 2013–14 season. Hobbs said that it would be an honour for him "to play for a club the size of Nottingham Forest". He made his debut on 3 August in a 1–0 home victory over Huddersfield Town. He scored his first goal on 28 September in a 1–0 home victory over Derby County, heading in an Andy Reid
Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. From 200 ...
corner
Corner may refer to:
People
*Corner (surname)
* House of Cornaro, a noble Venetian family (''Corner'' in Venetian dialect)
Places
*Corner, Alabama, a community in the United States
*Corner Inlet, Victoria, Australia
*Corner River, a tributary of ...
before half-time
In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...
. On 24 January 2014, Hull recalled him because of an injury to defender James Chester. However, on 31 January, Hobbs signed permanently for Nottingham Forest on a four-and-a-half-year contract, for a fee reported by ''Sky Sports'' to be worth "close to £1million". After signing, he played twice before being ruled out of the rest of the season in March due to an ankle fracture
An ankle fracture is a break of one or more of the bones that make up the ankle joint. Symptoms may include pain, swelling, bruising, and an inability to walk on the injured leg. Complications may include an associated high ankle sprain, compartme ...
.
In August 2014, Hobbs played his first match after his injury for the reserve team in a 0–0 draw against Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...
. However, he injured himself during the East Midlands derby against Derby County in September. In the following month he underwent surgery which ruled him out of action for three months. On 14 February 2015, during a 4–4 draw against Blackpool, he suffered a hamstring injury and was ruled out of play for a month. The club's manager Dougie Freedman
Douglas Alan Freedman (born 25 May 1974) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the current sporting director of Crystal Palace.
Freedman played as a striker, primarily for Crystal Palace and also had spells as ...
blamed the condition of the Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...
pitch for the injury. After recovering from his injury, he played the whole 90 minutes of a match against Brentford in April.
Hobbs played his first match of the 2015–16 seasonon 7 August 2015 in a match against Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
. Though the match ended in a 1–0 defeat for Forest, he formed a strong defensive partnership along with Matt Mills
Matthew Claude Mills (born 14 July 1986) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent most of his career in the English EFL Championship, in which he played for Leicester City, Reading, Bolton, Nottingham ...
. On 28 November, he received a red card in the 66th minute of a 3–1 win against Reading for a challenge on Matěj Vydra. He made a total of 23 appearances during the season.
Hobbs was dropped from the first team in the first half of the 2016–17 season by manager Philippe Montanier
Philippe Jacques William Montanier (born 15 November 1964) is French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Toulouse. As a player, he was as a goalkeeper.
Early life
Philippe Jacques William Montanier was b ...
, but was reinstated after Montanier was replaced by caretaker manager Gary Brazil
Gary Nicholas Brazil (born 19 September 1962) is an English former professional footballer and football manager, who is now academy manager at Nottingham Forest. He scored 160 goals in 658 league and cup games in an 18-year professional career. ...
. On 26 December, he played his first match of the season, starting in a 2–1 away defeat against Huddersfield Town. He played this match after recovering from "several niggling injuries". Hobbs played a total of 10 matches in the season.
He was released by Forest at the end of the 2017–18 season.
Bolton Wanderers
Hobbs signed a one-year contract with Championship club Bolton Wanderers on 30 July 2018 following a successful trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...
. He scored his first goal for Bolton in a 1–1 draw with Reading on 29 January 2019. Hobbs left Bolton at the end of the 2018–19 season, but re-signed for the club on 30 August. He had agreed a contract months before, but had to wait for Bolton to come out of administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
to re-sign. He was released at the end of the 2019–20 season.
International career
Hobbs made three appearances for the England national under-19 team, playing in all of their matches as they failed to qualify for the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in the elite qualification stage.
Coaching career
Hobbs was appointed as an assistant coach with Lincoln City's academy on 17 September 2021, working with the academy's shadow scholarship programme.
Career statistics
Honours
Liverpool
* FA Youth Cup: 2005–06[
Leicester City
* Football League One: 2008–09][
Individual
* PFA Team of the Year: 2008–09 League One][
*]Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
Fan's Player of the Year: 2009–10[
*Leicester City Players' Player of the Year: 2009–10][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs, Jack
1988 births
Living people
Footballers from Portsmouth
English footballers
England men's youth international footballers
Men's association football defenders
Lincoln City F.C. players
Liverpool F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Leicester City F.C. players
Hull City A.F.C. players
Nottingham Forest F.C. players
Bolton Wanderers F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
People educated at Spalding Grammar School
Association football coaches
Lincoln City F.C. non-playing staff