Jeffrey Hopkins (born 14 April 1964) is a former Welsh international football defender and current Melbourne Victory Women head coach, who most notably played club football for Fulham and

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 Football League.

Club career

Hopkins started his career as a trainee with Fulham, going on to make over 200 first team appearances for the club. This was followed by a four-year spell at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, including a loan to Plymouth Argyle in 1991–92. He spent a few months at

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 ...

in 1992, before spending the remaining five years of his Football League career with Reading. While at Reading, he was part of the team that narrowly missed out on promotion to the

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 ...

in the 1994–95 season, losing 4–3 after extra time in the playoff final against Bolton Wanderers. After a move to

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n football with

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

where he was made captain, Hopkins moved to Australia in October 1999 as a player-coach with

Gippsland Falcons Falcons 2000 Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the regional Victorian city of Morwell. Founded in 1961 by the local Italian community, the club has participated in the Victorian state league system at multiple ...

in the National Soccer League.

International career

Hopkins made his debut for the

Wales national under-21 football team The Wales national under-21 football team, also known as the Wales U21s, is the national under-21 football team of Wales and is controlled by the Football Association of Wales. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championsh ...

during the 1981/82 season against

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. He made a total of 5 under-21 appearances during that season and the next. He made his debut for the senior Welsh team on 31 May 1983 against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, and he made 16 appearances for Wales over the next seven years, with his final game coming against Costa Rica on 20 May 1990.

Management

Hopkins was named player-manager of the Gippsland Falcons in the lead-up to the 1999-2000 National Soccer League Season after the departure of

Stuart Munro Stuart David Munro (born 15 September 1962 in Falkirk) is a Scottish former professional football player, who is best known for his time with Rangers. Munro was signed from Alloa Athletic and made his top team debut for the Rangers against Dun ...

to rivals

Carlton SC Carlton Soccer Club is a defunct Australian association football (soccer) club. It participated in the National Soccer League from the 1997–98 season until round eight of the 2000–01 season, after which it folded. The club was strongly linked ...

. Hopkins became full-time manager during the season and retired from playing. He departed when the club exited the National Soccer League at the end of the 2000-2001 National Soccer League Season. Hopkins was coach of the Brisbane Roar women's team from their inaugural season in 2008, in which he led the team to a championship-premiership double. On 15 June 2012 it was announced he had been appointed as senior first team Assistant manager. On 30 April 2013, at the end of

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

2012–13 A-League The 2012–13 A-League was the 36th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the eighth season of the Australian A-League since its establishment in 2004. The 2012–13 season saw the introduction of a new Western Sydney-based team, the r ...

season, the Roar announced that he would become the Brisbane Roar Youth coach for the 2013–14 A-League National Youth League season. On 26 November 2014, following the resignation of Ron Smith, Hopkins moved into the role of assistant coach of Brisbane Roar. On 17 June 2016, Hopkins was appointed head coach of the Melbourne Victory women's team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Jeff Living people 1964 births Footballers from Swansea Welsh footballers Wales youth international footballers Wales under-21 international footballers Wales international footballers Association football defenders Bristol Rovers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Gippsland Falcons players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Reading F.C. players English Football League players National Soccer League (Australia) players Selangor FA players