Lyndon Hooper (born May 30, 1966) is a Canadian former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and former assistant coach of the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes ...

soccer team of the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

First Division. He was a prominent Canadian international.

Club career

Guyana-born but moving to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

at age 11, Hooper turned professional in 1987 with the

Ottawa Intrepid Ottawa Intrepid was a professional soccer team based in Ottawa, Ontario that competed in the original Canadian Soccer League. They were founded as the National Capital Pioneers (also spelled National Capitals Pioneers) and played in Aylmer, Que ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

. He continued to play for

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

in the autumns from 1986 to 1990 and was named second-team CIAU all-Canadian in 1986 and 1987. In 1986, he played in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

with

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

. He went on to play for CSL teams the

Montreal Supra Montreal Supra was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montreal, Quebec that played in the Canadian Soccer League from 1988 to 1992. History Montreal Supra joined the Canadian Soccer League as an expansion franchise for the league's se ...

, and returned to Toronto Blizzard in 1990. The 5'8, 160 lbs. Hooper played in the

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 Engla ...

with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional 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. Since 2011, the first te ...

in the 1993–94 season. His first game for Birmingham City was on 6 October 1993; a second city derby away at Aston Villa where Birmingham lost 1–0. Hooper returned to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

to play for A-League teams the Montreal Impact from 1994 to 1998,

Hampton Roads Mariners Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales * Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick * H ...

in 1999, and

, retiring as a player with the Lynx in 2001. Hooper played amateur soccer for Scarborough GS United in the 2005–06 season. The team won the Senior (open age) Men's Canadian Club Championship.

International career

Hooper is the sixth most capped player in the history of the Canadian national team, having made 68 'A' team appearances (scoring 2 goals) between 1986 and 1997. He made his debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in an August 1986

Merlion Cup The Merlion Cup was an invitational football tournament that was held in Singapore annually from 1982–1986, in 1992, 2009 and 2019. Participants included full national sides, Olympic sides, Invitational XI's and club teams. After the 1986 tour ...

match against

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. He represented Canada in 18

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches.Record at FIFA Tournaments
- FIFA His final international was a June 1997 World Cup qualification match against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. He also represented Canada at the inaugural

1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship The 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship was the first ever FIFA Futsal World Championship, the quadrennial international futsal championship contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was held between 5 and 15 J ...

Post-retirement

When he retired from soccer he served as a sports consultant with the Toronto Sports Council and earned his Level "B" coaching license while coaching the U17 Ontario Provincial Team. On March 3, 2005 he was appointed the new assistant coach for the

,Hooper joins Toronto Lynx
/ref> under

Hubert Busby Jr. Hubert Busby Junior (born 18 June 1970) is a Canadian-born Jamaican football manager and former player. Playing career In 1993, Busby Jr. played in the Canadian National Soccer League with Windsor Wheels. As a player, Busby Jr. spent time with ...

But when the Lynx finished with a league worst 3 wins, 17 losses, and 8 ties, the worst performance in league history, he and Busby both left their coaching roles after one season with the club. Hooper has recently started an elite soccer camp in the Durham Region of Ontario where he resides. The soccer camp has embarked on its journey to building a new generation of Canadian homegrown talent.

Personal life

Hooper's sister is star soccer player

Charmaine Hooper Charmaine Elizabeth Hooper (born January 15, 1968) is a Canadian retired soccer player. A four-time winner of the Canadian Players of the Year award and member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame, Hooper played on the Canada women's national socc ...

and Ian Hooper, a former professional and collegiate soccer player at NC State and current Director of Business Operations for the Ottawa Champions Baseball Club. Hooper is married to Jennifer Beckford and has two kids, Trey and Taylor Hooper. He was born and raised in Georgetown, Guyana then moved to Canada in 1978.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.''

External links

* /

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Hal ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Lyndon 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Georgetown, Guyana Soccer players from Ottawa Guyanese emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks soccer players Black Canadian soccer players Association football midfielders Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Ottawa Intrepid players Montreal Supra players Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players Birmingham City F.C. players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Cincinnati Silverbacks players Virginia Beach Mariners players Toronto Lynx players Canadian National Soccer League players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players English Football League players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players USL First Division players Afro-Guyanese people Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate soccer players in the United States Canadian soccer coaches A-League (1995–2004) players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England