Alec Hooper (5 January 1900 – December quarter 1978) was an English professional

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 played as a left-back. Born in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington under ...

, he started his career in the north-east of England with

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on the Stockton and Darlin ...

before moving to London to join

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to o ...

club

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

in July 1925. Hooper made nine league and cup appearances for the Addicks as they finished second from bottom in the division and were forced to apply for re-election for the only time in their history. In November 1926, he signed for

Scottish Football League Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (S ...

outfit

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

, where he spent two seasons. Hooper returned to England with

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

side

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

in June 1928. Signed to replace Clem Rigg as the club's first choice left-back, he made his Nelson debut in the opening game of the 1928–29 season, a 2–2 draw away at Hartlepools United. Hooper played the first eight games of the campaign before losing his place to Ted Ferguson. After three months out of the side, he returned to the starting line-up for one final match, helping the team to a 1–0 win against Hartlepools United. Soon afterwards, Hooper joined Welsh club Bangor City, where he remained until the end of the season. He signed for Barnoldswick Town in August 1929, but returned to Bangor midway through the 1929–30 campaign. In the summer of 1930, Hooper went back to the Third Division North with

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete histor ...

. However, he could not break into the first-team and spent the entire season in the reserves. After leaving Accrington in August 1930, he returned for a second spell at Barnoldswick Town, his final club before retirement. Hooper died in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, in the December quarter of 1978, at the age of 78.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Alec 1900 births 1978 deaths Footballers from Darlington English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Shildon A.F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Bangor City F.C. players Barnoldswick Town F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players English Football League players