Joseph Alexander Hope (born 28 June 2002) is 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 lea ...

who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for club West Auckland Town. He previously played for

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, for which he made his senior debut in 2020, and spent time

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

club Cleethorpes Town, before joining

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

of the

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

. He spent time on loan at Guisborough Town and Northallerton Town before signing for

Marske United Marske United Football Club is a football club based in Marske-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mount Pleasant. History The club was established in 1956 by members of Marske Cricket Club.

in 2022. After a further spell on loan at Northallerton, he signed for West Auckland Town at the start of the 2023–24 season.

Early life

Hope attended

Richmond School Richmond School & Sixth Form College, often referred to simply as Richmond School, is a coeducational comprehensive secondary school with academy status, located in North Yorkshire, England. It was created by the merger of three schools, the ...

Richmond, North Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located at the point where Swaledale, the upper valley of the River Swale, opens into the Vale of Mowbray. The town's population at the 2011 ...

. He played youth football in the

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

area for teams including Richmond Town U11 and Polton Allstars, and represented North Yorkshire Schools at U16 level. He was for a time a member of Sunderland's academy, from where he joined

in 2018.

Career

Grimsby Town

Hope's performances for the club's under-18 team and reserves earned him a scholarship to begin in July 2018, but his first year was disrupted by injury. He missed pre-season while recovering from knee surgery, and when he returned to action he suffered a similar injury to the other knee. He was given a first-team squad number for 2019–20 and named among the substitutes for

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

and

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

matches early in the season, but remained unused. In October 2019, he was reported to be interesting clubs including Everton and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, but nothing came of the rumours. He signed a one-year professional contract, and made his senior debut on 8 September 2020, starting in a

match against Harrogate Town. According to the ''

Grimsby Telegraph The ''Grimsby Telegraph'' is a daily United Kingdom, British regional newspaper for the town of Grimsby and the surrounding area that makes up North East Lincolnshire including the rural towns of Market Rasen and Louth, Lincolnshire, Louth. The ...

'', "he really shone. Looked to be Town's biggest threat going forward in the first half, carrying the ball with ease and coming up with a decent final product." He played 67 minutes before making way for Grimsby Town's youngest debutant, the 15-year-old Louis Boyd; the team went on to win on penalties. In October, he made three appearances in the

South East Division during a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

spell with Cleethorpes Town. On 30 March 2021, the club confirmed that Hope had been released from his contract by mutual consent.

Darlington

Hope signed for

club

in May 2021, and was one of six debutants in the starting eleven for their first match of the season, a 3–2 defeat at home to

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

. In September, he joined

Northern League Division One The Northern League is a British men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Di ...

club Guisborough Town on loan for a month and went straight into the starting eleven for the 3–1 win away to

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Football ...

. On 5 January 2022, Hope joined Northern League Division One club Northallerton Town on loan for the remainder of the 2021–22 season, where he made 13 appearances and scored his first career goal.

Marske United

Hope joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club

in July 2022. He made nine appearances for Marske before returning to Northallerton Town on a short-term loan in October 2022.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Joey 2002 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Grimsby Town F.C. players Cleethorpes Town F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Guisborough Town F.C. players Northallerton Town F.C. players Marske United F.C. players West Auckland Town F.C. players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players Northern Football League players Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century English sportsmen