Lyndon Hooper
Hooper in 2010
Personal information
Full name Lyndon Fitzgerald Hooper
Date of birth (1966-05-30) May 30, 1966
Place of birth Georgetown, Guyana[1]
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986 Toronto Blizzard
1987 National Capital Pioneers 18 (0)
1988 Montreal Supra 28 (2)
1990–1992 Toronto Blizzard 83 (11)
1993–1994 Birmingham City 5 (0)
1995–1996 Cincinnati Silverbacks (indoor) 20 (12)
1996 Chicago Power (indoor) 1 (0)
1996–1997 Toronto Shooting Stars (indoor) 8 (1)
1996–1998 Montreal Impact 53 (3)
1997–1998 Montreal Impact (indoor) 33 (2)
1999 Hampton Roads Mariners 19 (2)
2000–2001 Toronto Lynx 42 (1)
2005 Toronto Lynx 2 (0)
International career
1986–1997 Canada 68 (2)
Managerial career
2005 Toronto Lynx (assistant coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lyndon Hooper (born May 30, 1966) is a Canadian former professional soccer player and former assistant coach of the Toronto Lynx soccer team of the United Soccer Leagues First Division. A former midfielder, he was a prominent Canadian international.

Club career

Guyana-born but moving to Ottawa at age 11, Hooper turned professional in 1987 with the Ottawa Intrepid of the Canadian Soccer League. He continued to play for Wilfrid Laurier University in the autumns from 1986 to 1990 and was named second-team CIAU all-Canadian in 1986 and 1987. In 1986, he played in the National Soccer League with Toronto Blizzard.[2] He went on to play for CSL teams the Montreal Supra, and returned to Toronto Blizzard in 1990.[3]

The 5'8, 160 lbs. Hooper played in the Football League with Birmingham City in the 1993–94 season. His first game for Birmingham City was on 6 October 1993; a second city derby away at Aston Villa where Birmingham lost 1–0. Hooper returned to North America to play for A-League teams the Montreal Impact from 1994 to 1998, Hampton Roads Mariners in 1999, and Toronto Lynx, retiring as a player with the Lynx in 2001. Hooper played amateur soccer for Scarborough GS United in the 2005–06 season. The team won the Senior (open age) Men's Canadian Club Championship.

International career

Hooper is the sixth most capped player[4] in the history of the Canadian national team, having made 68 'A' team appearances (scoring 2 goals) between 1986 and 1997. He made his debut for Canada in an August 1986 Merlion Cup match against Singapore.[1] He represented Canada in 18 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.[5] His final international was a June 1997 World Cup qualification match against Costa Rica.[1] He also represented Canada at the inaugural 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship.[1]

Post-retirement

When he retired from soccer he served as a sports consultant with the Toronto Sports Council and earned his Level "B" coaching license while coaching the U17 Ontario Provincial Team. On March 3, 2005 he was appointed the new assistant coach for the Toronto Lynx,[3] under Hubert Busby Jr. But when the Lynx finished with a league worst 3 wins, 17 losses, and 8 ties, the worst performance in league history, he and Busby both left their coaching roles after one season with the club.

Hooper has recently started an elite soccer camp in the Durham Region of Ontario where he resides. The soccer camp has embarked on its journey to building a new generation of Canadian homegrown talent.

Hooper currently works for Ontario Soccer as the Coordinator, Coach Development.[6]

Personal life

Hooper's sister is star soccer player Charmaine Hooper and Ian Hooper, a former professional and collegiate soccer player at NC State and current Director of Business Operations for the Ottawa Champions Baseball Club. Hooper is married to Jennifer Beckford and has two kids, Trey and Taylor Hooper. He was born and raised in Georgetown, Guyana then moved to Canada in 1978.

Career statistics

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
126 March 1988Lima, Peru Peru1–13–1Friendly match
215 August 1993Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia Australia1–11–21994 FIFA World Cup qualification

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Lyndon Hooper". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  2. ↑ McAuley, Lynn (November 13, 1986). "Nepean's Hooper among 16 soccer players protected by National Capitals". Newspapers.com. Ottawa Citizen. p. 39. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  3. 1 2 Hooper joins Toronto Lynx
  4. ↑ Canada - Record International Players - RSSSF
  5. ↑ Record at FIFA Tournaments - FIFA
  6. ↑ "Contact Us". Ontario Soccer. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
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