Robert Hope (28 September 1943 – 10 June 2022)West Bromwich Albion legend Bobby Hope dies at age of 78
/ref> was a Scottish

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 made more than 400 appearances as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

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 ...

. He spent most of his club career at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, where he played more than 300 league games and helped the club win two major trophies. He won seven

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Career

Born in

Bridge of Allan Bridge of Allan ( sco, Brig Allan, gd, Drochaid Ailein), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a town in the Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on the ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...

, Hope played for West Bromwich Albion between 1959 and 1972, when they were a Football League First Division side. A cultured, scheming inside-forward, he was the general in the team's midfield throughout the 1960s. Together with Clive Clark on the wing, Hope provided the ammunition for players like Tony Brown and

Jeff Astle Jeffrey Astle (13 May 1942 – 19 January 2002) was an English professional footballer who played the majority of his career as a centre-forward for West Bromwich Albion. Nicknamed "the King" by the club's fans, he played 361 games for them and ...

. Hope enjoyed success during this period, winning 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 1966 and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in 1968. He scored Albion's first goal in European competition when he found the net against

DOS Utrecht DHSC is a football club in the Ondiep district of Utrecht, Netherlands. The club plays in the 2022-23 Vierde Divisie. History VV DOS (1901–2004) Voetbalvereniging Door Oefening Sterk, in short VV DOS, was established in 1901. The club won ...

in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup on 2 November 1966. In April 1971, Hope was awarded a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

against Athletic Bilbao, then managed by

Ronnie Allen Ronald Allen (15 January 1929 – 9 June 2001) was an English international football player and manager. He was a professional footballer for nineteen years, between 1946 and 1964, making 638 appearances in the Football League, and scoring 2 ...

, who later had two short spells as Albion manager; the fixture was reciprocated in Spain a few weeks later for the benefit of

José Ángel Iribar José Ángel Iribar Kortajarena (born 1 March 1943), nicknamed ''El Chopo'' ("the Populus, Poplar"), is a Spanish retired Association football, football Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and Manager (association football), manager. ...

. He moved to

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 ...

in 1972, spending time on loan in the NASL with

Philadelphia Atoms The Philadelphia Atoms were an American soccer team based out of Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1973 to 1976, at Veterans Stadium (1973–75) and Franklin Field (1976). The club's colors wer ...

and Dallas Tornado, and later played for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

and Bromsgrove Rovers. He went on to manage Bromsgrove and

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 ...

. He returned to West Brom as a scout in later years, and was appointed chief scout in 2000. Hope made seven appearances for the Scotland national team. Five of these appearances were during a 1967 overseas tour that the Scottish Football Association decided in October 2021 to reclassify as full internationals, which increased Hope's cap tally from two to seven. West Brom announced on 11 June that he had died on 10 June 2022, aged 78.

Honours

West Bromwich Albion *

: 1967–68 * Football League Cup: 1965–66

References

External links

*
NASL Team Rosters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Bobby 1943 births 2022 deaths People from Bridge of Allan Scottish footballers Footballers from Stirling (council area) Association football midfielders Association football inside forwards Scotland international footballers Scotland under-23 international footballers FA Cup Final players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Philadelphia Atoms players Dallas Tornado players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Scottish football managers Association football scouts Burton Albion F.C. managers Scottish expatriate footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States