William Richard Hoskins (born 6 May 1986) 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 ...
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
, where his career began at local club
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
's School of Excellence, before he joined Rotherham United's youth system in
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...
. Hoskins was heralded as a talent when, at just 17, he came into the first team fold at Rotherham and made an impact, scoring both goals in a 2–1 win at
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
in December 2003. However, he had a stop–start early career, only making one start under managers Ronnie Moore and subsequently
Mick Harford
Michael Gordon Harford (born 12 February 1959) is an English football manager and former professional player. He is the chief recruitment officer at Luton Town, a club where he has spent a large portion of both his playing and non-playing career ...
.Alan Knill took over as manager halfway through the 2005–06 season, with the Millers halfway through their first campaign back in League One, and saved the club from a second successive relegation. As youth coach Knill brought Hoskins up through the youth ranks at Millmoor and handed him 12 further starts that season. Hoskins reciprocated the faith shown in him by being the only one of six out-of-contract players at the end of the 2005–06 season to sign an immediate contract renewal. Knill offered the youngster an initial one-year deal, stating that, should Hoskins prove himself in the first team, he would be rewarded with a new contract before Christmas.
Hoskins had an excellent 2006–07 pre-season alongside his new strike partner Delroy Facey, notably scoring twice against
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Gretna. However, he suffered a slight injury before the first match of the season and Dave Hibbert had to step up to take his place. Hoskins returned to the squad less than a week later, coming on as a second-half substitute against
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football.
Huddersfield Town we ...
. The following week he came off the bench to score the winner against
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
, securing his place in the starting eleven for the Millers. He was in the team consistently, but never had a regular strike partner due to injuries.
By the end of December he had scored 15 goals in 22 appearances—seven of those in successive away games—making him the third highest scorer in League One. Due to his consistent excellent performances he was awarded the Player of the Month award in October and was valued at an estimated £750,000+ by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''.
Watford
After turning down a contract extension, Hoskins signed for
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
club
Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
along with teammate Lee Williamson on 5 January 2007 for a combined fee of £1.2 million. He made his debut on 13 January 2007 after coming off the bench against
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
. He struggled to make an impact at Watford in the 2007–08 campaign, making only three appearances. He did move on loan to League One club Millwall in September 2007, where he made 12 appearances, netting four goals in his spell. He then returned to Watford and after months of speculation, he signed for
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
on loan.
On 12 August 2008, Hoskins scored his first goal for Watford, an 88th-minute winner against Bristol Rovers in the first round of the 2008–09League Cup. On 24 January 2009, Hoskins scored the third goal in the sixty-seventh minute which led to the 4–3 victory against Crystal Palace in the third round of the
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 ...
.
Nottingham Forest
Hoskins completed his transfer to
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
on 8 February 2008, joining the club on loan for the rest of the season, with Forest having the option of signing Hoskins permanently in the summer for £500,000, if he impressed manager Colin Calderwood. He made his debut in a 2–0 win over Millwall at the
City Ground
The City Ground is a association football, football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,455.
...
and impressed in his first two games in a Reds shirt, being credited for his liveliness and willingness to work hard. He endured a frustrating spell on the sidelines with a troublesome back injury, and with
Brett Ormerod
Brett Ryan Ormerod (born 18 October 1976) is an English retired professional footballer.
A forward, he made 340 appearances in the Football League, including 215 for Blackpool, for whom he is the only player to have scored in all of the top f ...
In June 2010, Hoskins signed a two-year contract with Bristol Rovers. During the early parts of the season, he boasted a 1:2 goal to game ratio after a great start to the 2010–11 League One campaign. On 6 November 2010 during an FA Cup first round tie against
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" ...
, he suffered a sprained ankle injury, ruling him out for around four weeks, but came off the bench two weeks later away to Brighton & Hove Albion. In March 2011, with Bristol Rovers struggling, Hoskins was said to be leaving Rovers at the end of the season. He signed a deal with the League One champions Brighton & Hove Albion after Bristol Rovers were relegated from League One.
Brighton & Hove Albion
On 20 May 2011, Hoskins joined
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
club Brighton & Hove Albion on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He played 45 minutes in Brighton's first pre-season game of the season against
Burgess Hill
Burgess Hill () is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. ...
. He played the second half, partnering Craig Mackail-Smith, and scored a low drive from 30 yards after some neat play from Jamie Smith. He scored his first competitive goal for Brighton on his début against Cardiff City in a 3–1 win away from home. Craig Mackail-Smith released him with a through ball and he smashed the ball in the net with a fantastic finish to put Brighton 3–0 up. On 31 January 2012 Hoskins joined Sheffield United on loan for the rest of the season. Hoskins was forced to cut his loan spell short with Sheffield United and return to Brighton just before the end of the season due a hernia problem. His second Brighton goal came as they knocked out
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
club
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
of the
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 ...
on 5 January 2013.
Exeter City
On 2 July 2015, Hoskins joined Exeter City on trial alongside Alex Fisher. Following a successful trial period, he joined City permanently on 30 July. Hoskins came on to score a late winner on his debut against Yeovil Town.
National League South
The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...
. He made 22 appearances during the 2017–18 season, scoring four goals as the team finished 5th, qualifying for the play-offs.
Kings Langley
On 3 January 2020, Hoskins signed for Southern League Premier Division Central club Kings Langley, he was named as a substitute for a home fixture against Nuneaton Borough on 4 January 2020, Hoskins came on as a 57th minute substitute for Steve Ward, and helped his new club to a 2–0 victory. He made five appearances and scored two goals for the club.
International career
Hoskins made an immediate impact when first introduced into the England U-18 squad, setting up the winning goal against
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
on 29 April 2004. He made his full first team debut for the International U20s team in the 4–0 defeat to Russia on 16 August 2005 in Moscow.