Jeffrey Hopkins (born 14 April 1964) is a former

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defender and current Melbourne Victory Women head coach, who most notably played club football for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and Reading 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 ...

Club career

Hopkins started his career as a trainee with Fulham, going on to make over 200 first team appearances for the club. This was followed by a four-year spell at Crystal Palace, including a loan to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

in 1991–92. He spent a few months at Bristol Rovers in 1992, before spending the remaining five years of his Football League career with Reading. While at Reading, he was part of the team that narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the 1994–95 season, losing 4–3 after extra time in the playoff final against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. After a move to Malaysian football with Selangor where he was made captain, Hopkins moved to Australia in October 1999 as a player-coach with

Gippsland Falcons Falcons 2000 Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the regional Victorian city of Morwell. Founded in 1961 by the local Italian community, the club has participated in the Victorian state league system at multiple ...

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 ...

International career

Hopkins made his debut for the Wales national under-21 football team during the 1981/82 season against France. He made a total of 5 under-21 appearances during that season and the next. He made his debut for the senior Welsh team on 31 May 1983 against Northern Ireland, and he made 16 appearances for Wales over the next seven years, with his final game coming 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 ...

on 20 May 1990.

Management

Hopkins was named player-manager of the Gippsland Falcons in the lead-up to the 1999-2000 National Soccer League Season after the departure of Stuart Munro to rivals Carlton SC. Hopkins became full-time manager during the season and retired from playing. He departed when the club exited the National Soccer League at the end of the 2000-2001 National Soccer League Season. Hopkins was coach of the Brisbane Roar women's team from their inaugural season in 2008, in which he led the team to a championship-premiership double. On 15 June 2012 it was announced he had been appointed as senior first team Assistant manager. On 30 April 2013, at the end of Brisbane Roar's

2012–13 A-League The 2012–13 A-League was the 36th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the eighth season of the Australian A-League since its establishment in 2004. The 2012–13 season saw the introduction of a new Western Sydney-based team, the re ...

season, the Roar announced that he would become the Brisbane Roar Youth coach for the 2013–14 A-League National Youth League season. On 26 November 2014, following the resignation of Ron Smith, Hopkins moved into the role of assistant coach of Brisbane Roar. On 17 June 2016, Hopkins was appointed head coach of the Melbourne Victory women's team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Jeff Living people 1964 births Footballers from Swansea Welsh footballers Wales youth international footballers Wales under-21 international footballers Wales international footballers Association football defenders Bristol Rovers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Gippsland Falcons players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Reading F.C. players English Football League players National Soccer League (Australia) players Selangor FA players