Robert Arthur Hopkins (born 25 October 1961) is an English former 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 lea ...

who played as a winger. Hopkins was born in the Hall Green district of Birmingham, and started his playing career at Aston Villa, with whom he won the FA Youth Cup in 1980. He played in more than 300

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 ...

matches for Aston Villa,

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional 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. The team compete in the ...

(in two spells),

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, West Bromwich Albion, Shrewsbury Town and Colchester United. He also played in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

for Instant-Dict and for non-League clubs Solihull Borough and Bromsgrove Rovers. While at Birmingham, the club he has supported since childhood, he helped the club to win promotion to the First Division in 1985 and the Associate Members' Cup in 1991. He also scored the decisive

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

in an embarrassing

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 ...

defeat at home to non-league club

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

. In 2012, Hopkins was one of seven former players elected to Birmingham City's Hall of Fame.

Honours

Aston Villa * FA Youth Cup: 1979–80 * Southern Junior Floodlit Cup: 1979–80 Birmingham City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

runners-up: 1984–85 * Associate Members' Cup: 1990–91 Individual * Birmingham City F.C. Hall of Fame: inducted 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Robert 1961 births Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Living people English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Aston Villa F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Double Flower FA players Colchester United F.C. players Solihull Borough F.C. players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Hong Kong First Division League players Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong English expatriate men's footballers