Jonathan William Hooker (born 31 March 1972 in London, England) is an English retired

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 lea ...

who played as a forward or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He began his career in

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, 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 ...

at Hertford Town and moved to 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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with Gillingham in 1994. Shortly after, he moved to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, for whom he made eight appearances during an 18-month spell. After his release in 1996, Hooker returned to non-League football and retired in 2002.

Career

Hertford Town

A forward or

, Hooker began his career in Sunday league football, before moving into

with

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Third Division club Hertford Town.

Gillingham

Hooker secured a move to the

when he joined Third Division club Gillingham on trial on 7 November 1994, despite not harbouring an ambition to play football professionally. He made his professional debut with a starting appearance in a 3–1

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

first round defeat to

the following evening. It was Hooker's only appearance for the Gills and he departed a matter of days later.

Brentford

Hooker transferred to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club Brentford for a £5,000 fee on 14 November 1994. He initially made Capital League appearances for the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

and was called into the senior team for the first time for a league match versus

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on 10 December. Hooker made his Football League debut when he replaced

Darren Annon Darren Carlton Annon (born 17 February 1972) is an English former professional footballer. He made 20 appearances in the Football League for Brentford and played the majority of his career with non-League clubs Enfield, Farnborough Town and Ma ...

during the 2–2 draw. It was his only involvement in the first team during the 1994–95 season. He made regular appearances for the reserves, scoring five goals and helping the team to second place in the Capital League. Hooker found himself out of favour during the early part of the 1995–96 season, but an injury to

Ijah Anderson Ijah Massai Anderson (born 30 December 1975) is an English retired professional footballer, who made over 200 appearances as a left back in the Football League for Brentford. He also played League football for Bristol Rovers, Swansea City and Wy ...

saw Hooker called into the team to make his first start for the club in a 0–0 draw with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

on 12 September 1995. He started four games in a row and won "star player" recognition for his performance in a 1–0 home win over

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

on 16 September.

Carl Asaba Carl Edward Asaba (born 28 January 1973) is an English former footballer who played as a forward in the Football League. He began his career with non-league Dulwich Hamlet, his goalscoring prowess earning him a move to Brentford in 1994. He play ...

replaced Hooker in the starting line-up and Hooker failed to appear again until he was used as a winger in a 2–0 defeat at home to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

on 4 November. Hooker appeared as a substitute for

Nicky Forster Nicholas Michael Forster (born 8 September 1973) is an English former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of Staines Town. Forster has also been player-manager at Brentford and manager of Dover Athletic. Career Early ...

in the following game and made his final appearance for the club as a substitute for

David McGhee David Christopher McGhee (born 19 June 1976) is an English retired professional footballer, who made over 230 appearances as a utility player in the Football League for Brentford and Leyton Orient. Playing career Early years McGhee was bo ...

in a 4–0

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

first round replay win over Farnborough Town on 11 November. Hooker was released at the end of the season, having made just eight first team appearances for the Bees.

Return to non-League football

Hooker dropped back into non-League football and played for Isthmian League Premier Division club

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

during the 1996–97 season. Hooker signed for Isthmian League Premier Division new boys Billericay Town in 1997. He made 48 appearances and scored six goals during the 1997–98 season. He left the club at the end of the 1998–99 season to join fellow Isthmian League Premier Division club

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

. Hooker joined Isthmian League First Division club Harlow Town in 2000 and played two seasons before retiring from football in 2002.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooker, Jon 1972 births Living people Footballers from London English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Hertford Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Harlow Town F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players