Matthew Hopper (17 January 1893 – 1978) 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 le ...

who made 82 appearances in the Football League playing for Millwall,

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and Ashington. He played as an outside right. Hopper, a native of Ashington, began his career in

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

, including contributing to Lincoln City's Midland League title in 1920–21. When he signed for

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club Millwall in April 1921, the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' reported how "the spectators appreciated his clever wing play and shooting" when Lincoln eliminated Millwall from the FA Cup earlier in the year. He made his Football League debut on 30 April, against Southampton, "proved as speedy and as hard a worker" as in that Cup tie, and was expected to "do better when he has had more experience with his new colleagues". By the end of the 1921–22 season, the ''Express'' rated him "one of the most improved players in the team". At the end of the next, Hopper left Millwall, and played

until resuming his league career in 1926 with Coventry City and then Ashington. His last club was

Annfield Plain Annfield Plain is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated on a plateau between the towns of Stanley, to the north-east, and Consett, to the west. According to the 2001 census, Annfield Plain has a population of 3,569. By the ti ...

in his native north-east of England.

References

1893 births 1978 deaths Footballers from Ashington English men's footballers Men's association football outside forwards Percy Main Amateurs F.C. players Ashington A.F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Sittingbourne F.C. players Catford Southend F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Annfield Plain F.C. players Midland Football League players English Football League players Date of death missing {{England-footy-forward-1890s-stub