New striker keen to repay Phoenix’s faith in him
He has barely played since December 2017, but Gary Hooper is hoping to make up for lost time at Wellington Phoenix.
Although he has scored more than 200 goals throughout his 14-year professional career, netting in the Champions League, Europa League, English Premier League, Scottish Premiership, FA Cup and Championship, a botched groin operation left the former Celtic and Norwich City striker in football limbo at the end of last season.
Requiring a second round of surgery, Hooper missed most of the 2018-19 campaign and was released by Sheffield Wednesday after making only six appearances. However, finding a new club proved difficult due to his recent injury history.
A-League rivals Western Sydney Wanderers showed some interest in the Englishman, as did a club from Iran, but the Phoenix was the only club to offer him a contract. The 31-year-old said he was surprised by the lack of interest given his goalscoring pedigree.
‘‘A lot of clubs look at the injury and see how many games you’ve played last season. Because I only played six games I think everybody stayed away, so I was a bit shocked because it reached October and I still didn’t have a team. But then I was speaking to the manager at Wellington Phoenix and I was happy to come over,’’ Hooper said.
‘‘From the start the manager phoned me up and just told me he wants me over here, it’s going to be life-changing. From day one he wanted me to play and it’s nice to be wanted because no-one else had really taken a chance on me because of my injury, but this manager has.
‘‘I thought why not? It’s something different. I’ve been in England for 14 years now, done all the leagues, and I wanted a new challenge.’’
Declaring himself fit and available for selection, the club’s marquee man is hoping to repay the Phoenix with goals when he makes his much-anticipated A-League debut against Perth Glory tomorrow.
‘‘I’m ready to go. I’ve had a good week’s training now, with the team and on my own, and I’m looking forward to Sunday now,’’ he said.
If Hooper manages to keep fit, he has the potential to the biggest signing in the club’s history. A goal-machine throughout his career, Hooper scored 50 goals in 95 games for Scunthorpe United, 82 in 138 matches for Celtic and 20 in 70 appearances for Norwich City.
Although he played in the Premier League in two of his three seasons with Norwich, it was his spell with Celtic where Hooper’s career was at its peak, playing in the Champions League and winning the Scottish Premiership on two occasions.
‘‘I remember driving up with my dad to have a look around and as soon as I got there I thought ‘this is where I want to play football’. The stadium was amazing, it had about 60,000 seats, the manager showed me around Glasgow, showed me the training ground. You don’t realise until you walk around the boardroom, where all the trophies are, how big the club is,’’ he said.
‘‘The fans, they want you to give 100 per cent and play every week. When you’re 0-0
‘‘It’s nice to be wanted because no-one else had really taken a chance on me.’’
Gary Hooper
A-League round 3, Wellington Phoenix v Perth Glory Westpac Stadium, Wellington; 6pm tomorrow
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at halftime at home, you’re getting booed off because they expect you to be one or two goals up. But you just take it because you know you’re going to create chances, you’re going to have the ball all the time and most of the time we won.
‘‘My first Old Firm game in I scored, so I had the fans’ support straight away. Then I just carried on scoring and had a good three years there.’’
Hooper said he still harbours ambitions to return to Europe, but he knows he needs to prove his fitness first.
‘‘I’m motivated to play football and score goals and this is probably the only manager and club that said ‘come over and play for us’ and that’s why I came over. He’s going to give me a chance to get fit again and score goals and then we’ll see what happens next season.’’
After dropping their first two games, the Phoenix will be hoping the introduction of Hooper will turn their fortunes around. They have created the most chances in the competition through two rounds (32) but have lacked the finishing touch that Hooper should be able to provide.