Jeffrey Hopkins (born 14 April 1964) is a former Welsh international football defender and current Melbourne Victory Women head coach, who most notably played club football for Fulham and Reading in the Football League.[2]

Jeff Hopkins
Personal information
Full nameJeffrey Hopkins
Date of birth (1964-04-14) 14 April 1964 (age 60)
Place of birthSwansea, Wales
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)Defender
Youth career
Fulham
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1981–1988Fulham219(4)
1988–1992Crystal Palace70(2)
1991Plymouth Argyle (loan)8(0)
1992Bristol Rovers6(0)
1992–1997Reading131(3)
1997–1999Selangor
1999–2000Gippsland Falcons23(0)
International career
1981–1983Wales U215(0)
1983–1990Wales16(0)
Managerial career
1999–2001Gippsland Falcons
2008–2012Brisbane Roar Women's
2012–2013Brisbane Roar (Asst. Manager)
2013–2014Brisbane Roar Youth
2014–2015Brisbane Roar (Asst. Manager)
2016–Melbourne Victory Women
2022Melbourne Victory FC AWT
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Hopkins started his career as a trainee with Fulham, going on to make over 200 first team appearances for the club.[2] This was followed by a four-year spell at Crystal Palace, including a loan to Plymouth Argyle in 1991–92.[3] He spent a few months at Bristol Rovers in 1992, before spending the remaining five years of his Football League career with Reading.[3]

While at Reading, he was part of the team that narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the 1994–95 season, losing 4–3 after extra time in the playoff final against Bolton Wanderers.

After a move to Malaysian football with Selangor where he was made captain, Hopkins moved to Australia in October 1999 as a player-coach with Gippsland Falcons in the National Soccer League.[4]

International career edit

Hopkins made his debut for the Wales national under-21 football team during the 1981/82 season against France. He made a total of 5 under-21 appearances during that season and the next.[5]

He made his debut for the senior Welsh team on 31 May 1983 against Northern Ireland, and he made 16 appearances for Wales over the next seven years, with his final game coming against Costa Rica on 20 May 1990.[5]

Management edit

Hopkins was named player-manager of the Gippsland Falcons in the lead-up to the 1999-2000 National Soccer League Season after the departure of Stuart Munro to rivals Carlton SC. Hopkins became full-time manager during the season and retired from playing. He departed when the club exited the National Soccer League at the end of the 2000-2001 National Soccer League Season.

Hopkins was coach of the Brisbane Roar women's team from their inaugural season in 2008, in which he led the team to a championship-premiership double.[6][7] On 15 June 2012 it was announced he had been appointed as senior first team Assistant manager.[8] On 30 April 2013, at the end of Brisbane Roar's 2012–13 A-League season, the Roar announced that he would become the Brisbane Roar Youth coach for the 2013–14 A-League National Youth League season.[9] On 26 November 2014, following the resignation of Ron Smith, Hopkins moved into the role of assistant coach of Brisbane Roar.[10]On 17 June 2016, Hopkins was appointed head coach of the Melbourne Victory women's team.[11]

Hopkins served as the inaugural manager of the Melbourne Victory FC AWT. Playing their inaugural season in State League 4 West, the seventh tier of Australian women's football and sixth in the Victorian structure, the AWT finished in third place, a result which saw them promoted to State League 3 East. Hopkins was succeeded as AWT manager by Jorge Leon for the 2023 State League 3 East season.[12]

Managerial statistics edit

As of 22 December 2023[13]
TeamNatFromToRecord
GWDLWin %
Brisbane Roar 1 July 200830 June 2012463196067.39
Melbourne Victory 17 June 2016present110502535045.45
Total156813441051.92

References edit

  1. ^ "Jeff Hopkins". melbournevictory.com. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Football League Career Stats at Neil Brown".
  3. ^ a b "Jeff Hopkins". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Brits make it big Down Under". BBC. 19 August 1999. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  5. ^ a b Rollin (eds), Glenda & Jack (2004). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2004–05. Headline. ISBN 0-7553-1311-9. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ "Hopkins leaves Roar for W-League head coach role". Brisbane Roar. 24 June 2016. Hopkins started at the Roar in 2008 where he successfully took charge of the club's Westfield W-League side guiding them to four consecutive grand finals and two championships.
  7. ^ "Melbourne Victory's Jeff Hopkins announced as IFCCA panellist". Football Queensland. 25 March 2019. guiding the then Queensland Roar W-League side to their inaugural Premiership-Championship double in the 2008-2009 season.
  8. ^ "Vidosic picks Hopkins as assistant".
  9. ^ "Changes at Roar after awards night". FourFourTwo.
  10. ^ "Brisbane Roar assistant coach Ron Smith resigns". Football Federation Australia. 26 November 2014.
  11. ^ "Jeff Hopkins appointed as Victory W-League coach". Melbourne Victory. 17 June 2016.
  12. ^ D'Urbano, Nick. "Marco Rojas is making a $20k donation to Melbourne Victory to fix a 'gap' he saw with his own eyes". KEEPUP. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Jeff Hopkins". ALeagueStats. Retrieved 15 April 2023.