text: gary hooper gary hooper ( born 26 january 1988 ) is an english professional footballer who plays as a forward for championship club sheffield wednesday . hooper started his career at non - league grays athletic in 2003 . while there he won the 2004 – 05 conference south , as well as the fa trophy twice in 2005 and 2006 . after this championship club southend united signed him on a free transfer in 2006 . he was loaned out twice by the club , on a three - month loan to league one club leyton orient in 2007 and a six - month loan to league two club hereford united in 2008 . scunthorpe united signed him in 2008 , for a fee of £ 175 , 000 . after two years he was signed by scottish premier league side celtic for £ 2 . 4 million . in his first season with the club he was the top scorer and also won the 2011 scottish cup . hooper has scored in the premier league , championship , league one , league two , fa cup , league cup , football league trophy , fa trophy , uefa champions league , uefa europa league , scottish cup , scottish league cup and the scottish premier league , the first and only player to achieve this feat . on top of this , he has also scored in the conference national and the conference south . hooper was born in england but has not represented the national team at any level . in march 2011 it was thought that he may be eligible to represent scotland . however , this possibility was later closed off . since his move to celtic he has been considered for england duty and was called up to the under - 21 squad for a friendly but had to pull out due to injury . he was then included in the provisional squad for the 2011 european under - 21 championship but did not go to the tournament . club career early career hooper was born in harlow , essex and grew up in loughton . he joined the tottenham hotspur youth team at the age of seven . when he was 14 he played 20 minutes of a trial game and was then released by the club . after this he had trials with northampton town and luton town . these proved unsuccessful and he started playing sunday league football . he then had a short spell with maldon town , before he was signed by conference national side grays athletic at the start of the 2003 – 04 season . grays athletic hooper joined isthmian premier side grays athletic , in the 2003 – 04 season , being named as an unused substitute in an essex senior cup clash against braintree town whilst he was still 15 years old . his debut was the following season when grays were promoted into the newly formed conference south , helping them to win the league by scoring 12 goals in 29 league appearances . he started for grays in the 2004 – 05 fa trophy final against hucknall town , but was substituted towards the end of extra - time . the match went to penalties and grays won the shoot - out 6 – 5 . the following season in the conference national , hooper scored eight times in 40 league appearances . he was an unused substitute in grays athletic 's 2 – 0 triumph over woking in the final of the 2006 fa trophy . at the end of the 2006 season he was released by grays . hooper said that he was only getting substitute appearances for the last few minutes of games and that he wanted to move . southend united in july 2006 , after his release by grays , hooper went on two trials . firstly to league two side barnet , then to championship club southend united , where he was given a one - year contract by manager steve tilson the following month . on 24 october , hooper scored twice in a 3 – 1 league cup win over leeds united . he went on to make 18 appearances for southend in the championship , although only two were starts . on 15 march , hooper joined league one side leyton orient on loan for the rest of the season . tilson said that this loan would allow him to assess whether hooper merited a new contract and would give the young striker experience . hooper was recalled from loan on 1 may before , already relegated , southend 's last match of the season . a number of players were out injured for the match and , five days after his recall , hooper started in the 4 – 1 defeat to southampton . hooper made 18 appearances in league one for southend during the first half of the 2007 – 08 season , scoring twice . on 28 january 2008 , hooper signed a new 18 - month contract to extend his stay with the club . he then moved on loan to league two club hereford united . at the start of the 2008 – 09 season . hooper , along with three other strikers , was listed for transfer as tilson looked to re - build his attack . hereford had a bid accepted for hooper after his successful loan spell , but could not afford to match the larger transfer fees offered by other teams . several other league one sides were interested in him . cheltenham town had a bid accepted but hooper eventually decided to move to scunthorpe united . he scored just four goals in 44 appearances during his time at southend . although he did have two successful loan spells . leyton orient ( loan ) on 15 march 2007 , hooper moved on loan to league one club leyton orient . two days after joining the club he scored in a 2 – 2 draw with oldham athletic after coming on as a substitute . a week later , he scored against league one leaders scunthorpe united in another 2 – 2 draw . hooper made two more appearances for orient , before being recalled to southend on 1 may , when the club activated a 24 - hour return clause in his contract . orient manager martin ling said that he thought hooper had done well during his loan spell with the club and that he would monitor the progress of the young striker . hereford united ( loan ) on 28 january 2008 , hooper signed a one - month loan deal with league two side hereford united . he made his debut two days after signing for them , starting in a 2 – 1 loss to barnet . he scored in his next game for the club , a 1 – 0 win over rotherham united . he played five more times , scoring four goals , before his loan deal was due to expire on 28 february . however , manager graham turner agreed a deal to keep him until the end of the season . southend manager steve tilson agreed to this despite having two strikers out injured at the time . hooper 's 11 goals in 19 appearances for hereford helped them finish third in league two and secure promotion . scunthorpe united on 14 july 2008 , scunthorpe united signed hooper for a fee of £ 125 , 000 , rising to £ 175 , 000 . hooper signed a three - year contract with the league one club . in the first game of scunthorpe 's league campaign , hooper scored in a 2 – 1 defeat at glanford park against leeds united . he scored his first ever hat - trick against , brighton , on 6 september and netted seven goals in his first seven games to help scunthorpe 's promotion push . after this teammate izzy paid tribute to hooper saying that " as soon as he started training you could see there was something special there . " on 28 october , league leaders , scunthorpe suffered their first defeat in 12 games as they lost 3 – 0 to oldham athletic . hooper came off with an injury in this match and it was feared he had broken his foot and may have been out for up to six months . however , scans later revealed that his foot was just badly bruised . he was labelled in the media as the latest from scunthorpe 's " production line for talented young forwards . " he scored both goals in a win over promotion rivals millwall on 31 january 2009 . scunthorpe reached the final of the football league trophy and faced league two luton town . hooper scored the opener but luton pulled it back to win the match 3 – 2 in extra - time . at the end of the season hooper won scunthorpe 's player of the year award . he said he was delighted with the team 's performance during the season , in which he scored 24 league goals to help scunthorpe gain promotion . he then set himself a target of 15 championship goals for the next season . he scored 30 goals in all competitions throughout the 2008 – 09 season , just three goals short of billy sharp 's record 33 goals in a season for scunthorpe . at the start of the 2009 – 10 season , queens park rangers had a £ 1 million rejected for hooper . coventry city were also rumoured to be interested in the striker . on 15 august , hooper scored twice in a 3 – 2 win over derby county . scunthorpe manager nigel adkins said that he thought hooper was a " massive threat " to the opposition and that he was worried that other teams would try to sign him before the end of the transfer window . on 22 february , captain cliff byrne , described hooper as the kind of striker who could " create something out of nothing " . he also stated that he hoped hooper would stay at the club but if he did leave it would be for a lot of money . this was just after hooper had scored in a 2 – 2 draw with watford , taking his seasonal tally to 13 . he scored a hat - trick against bristol city on his return from a groin injury on 17 april 2010 , and added a further two goals at doncaster rovers a week later . he scored 20 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions in the 2009 – 10 season , including 19 in 35 in the league , where he finished as third - top goal scorer behind peter whittingham and nicky maynard who both scored 20 . in 2012 , scunthorpe united fans voted hooper as the club 's best ever player . celtic on 26 july 2010 , scottish premier league club celtic signed hooper for £ 2 . 4 million . the move provided him with great experience , despite his young age of 22 when joining and kept him grounded . on 4 august 2010 , hooper scored on his debut for the club , against portuguese primeira liga club braga in the champions league third qualifying round . hooper tore his calf muscle in a friendly against blackburn rovers just four days later on 8 august , keeping him out of action for almost six weeks . on 22 september 2010 , hooper made his return from injury in the league cup , scoring in a 6 – 0 victory over inverness caledonian thistle . on 25 september 2010 , hooper made his scottish premier league debut in a 2 – 1 victory over hibernian at celtic park . hooper scored his scottish premier league goal on 2 october , in a 3 – 1 win over hamilton and then scored a double against dundee united at tannadice on 17 october . one week later , he scored the opening goal in a 3 – 1 defeat to rangers at celtic park . on 6 november , hooper and strike partner anthony stokes each scored hat - tricks in a league record 9 – 0 win over aberdeen . the following week , he scored the winner against st mirren . after recovering from an injury that kept him out of action during the christmas period , hooper returned to the team against hibernian on 15 january 2011 and scored the opening goal in a 3 – 0 win . on 1 february , hooper scored the first goal in a 3 – 0 win against aberdeen . he netted twice in celtic 's 3 – 0 victory over rangers on 20 february . he grabbed another brace on 6 april 2011 , in a 3 – 1 victory over hibernian . two weeks later , hooper had a man of the match performance against kilmarnock , scoring a goal and setting up another three in a 4 – 0 spl victory . on 1 may 2011 , hooper scored in a 4 – 1 victory over dundee united . he then scored a brace against hearts , and the opener in a 4 – 0 win over motherwell , in the final scottish premier league match of the season . hooper was nominated for the pfa player of the year award , but lost out to teammate emilio and was also picked in the pfa scotland team of the year . hooper won his first medal for celtic in the scottish cup after a 3 – 0 win over motherwell in the final on 21 may 2011 . during the 2010 – 11 season , hooper had the best strike rate of any player in britain , scoring 20 goals in 26 games with a strike rate of 0 . 77 goals per game . this was also the fourth best strike rate in europe , behind cristiano ronaldo , lionel messi and antonio di natale . on 24 july 2011 , hooper had a penalty saved by graham stack in celtic 's first match of the 2011 – 12 season , a 2 – 0 win over hibs . on 13 august , he scored his first goal of the season in a 5 – 1 win over dundee united . he also picked up an ankle injury which ruled him out for the next two matches . on 25 august he made his return in celtic 's 3 – 1 loss to fc sion . three days later , he scored both goals in a 2 – 0 win over st mirren . english premier league clubs queens park rangers and wolverhampton wanderers expressed interest in signing hooper on transfer deadline day of summer 2011 , however celtic rejected their enquiries about his availability . hooper 's regular strike partner anthony stokes said " he 's a top , top player . i have no doubt one day he could play at the very top level but we want to keep him here as long as possible . " hooper scored in celtic 's 4 – 2 loss to rivals rangers on 18 september 2011 . this was his fourth goal in seven old firm matches . he then started celtic 's first scottish league cup game of the season against ross county , scoring one goal in a 2 – 0 win for celtic . on 29 september he played in celtic 's 1 – 1 draw with italian side udinese . after three minutes he won a penalty which ki sung - scored . he then gave away a penalty , which was converted , after 83 minutes when he fouled . a month later , he scored in celtic 's 4 – 1 , league cup quarter - final , victory over hibernian . on 3 november , hooper scored his first european goal of the season , netting the final goal of celtic 's 3 – 1 europa league group stage win against rennes , after coming on as a 78th - minute substitute for james forrest . three days later , he again came on as a substitute and scored the winner in a 2 – 1 win over motherwell . on 26 november , he scored a hat - trick in a 5 – 0 win over st mirren . after scoring five goals in november , he won the spl player of the month award . on 15 december , hooper scored in celtic 's final europa league group game , a 1 – 1 draw against udinese which meant celtic finished third in the group and didn 't qualify for the knock - out stages . during the january transfer window english championship league leaders southampton made several bids for hooper . however , they were rejected by celtic and hooper reiterated his desire to stay with the club . on 14 january , hooper scored in a 2 – 1 win over dundee united . he then scored in celtic 's 4 – 0 win against hearts on 8 february . on 29 april 2012 , hooper scored the final goal as celtic beat rangers 3 – 0 at celtic park . this was his fifth goal in 10 appearances against rangers . on 13 may , hooper scored all five goals for celtic as they beat hearts 5 – 0 in the final spl match of the season , securing his position as the top scorer in the scottish premier league with 24 goals and winning the golden boot . after southampton had won promotion to the premier league there was speculation linking them with a £ 7m for hooper at the start of the 2012 – 13 season . however , hooper stated that he was happy at celtic and was looking forward to playing champions league football . on 1 august 2012 , hooper started the season in scoring form , in celtic 's 2 – 1 victory against hjk helsinki in the first leg of the champions league third qualifying round . on 25 september 2012 , hooper scored all 4 goals in celtic 's scottish league cup tie against raith rovers at celtic park , the match finished 4 – 1 . on 29 september 2012 , hooper scored the first goal in a 2 – 0 victory over motherwell at fir park , this resulted in celtic going to first spot in the scottish premier league . hooper scored his seventh goal in four matches , against spartak moscow in the uefa champions league ; celtic won the match 3 – 2 at spartak stadium ( moscow ) , recording their first ever away victory in the uefa champions league proper . during january 2013 , hooper scored braces against hearts and dundee united in high scoring wins at home for celtic , and also scored the only goal in a 1 – 0 away win at motherwell . that run of goalscoring saw him win the spl player of the month award . celtic clinched their second successive scottish premier league title on 21 april 2013 with a 4 – 1 win over inverness caledonian thistle at parkhead . hooper scored twice in the game . on 26 may 2013 , hooper scored twice for celtic in their 3 – 0 win over hibernian in the scottish cup final . on 12 june 2013 , english premier league club hull city made an undisclosed bid , believed to be about £ 4.5m , for hooper which celtic rejected . as transfer speculation increased over the summer , hooper played what proved to be his final game for celtic on 23 july when he came on a second - half substitute in a champions league qualifier against cliftonville . he replaced anthony stokes on 65 minutes and almost scored nine minutes later with an overhead kick that hit the post . norwich city on 26 july 2013 , hooper signed a three - year contract with english premier league club norwich city for an undisclosed fee believed to be £ 5m with norwich having the option of a further year to hooper 's contract . hooper made his competitive début for norwich on 21 september 2013 in a premier league 1 – 0 home loss to aston villa as a 63rd - minute substitute . in his first start for the club , hooper scored a brace to secure a 3 – 2 victory over watford in the third round of the league cup on 24 september . on 9 november 2013 , hooper scored his first premier league goal from the penalty spot against west ham united at carrow road to level the scores at 1 – 1 . norwich city won the game 3 – 1 , with hooper being voted as man of the match . due to this goal , he became the first player to score in the top 4 divisions of the english league , the top division of the scottish league and two cup competitions in each country , as well as the uefa champions league and uefa europa league . hooper scored his second premier league goal and fourth goal in all competitions in just his seventh start for norwich city , on 30 november 2013 against crystal palace , which norwich city won 1 – 0 for a vital 3 points . on 7 december , hooper scored his fifth norwich city goal and third premier league goal against west bromwich albion at the hawthorns , a first time angled shot across goalkeeper boaz myhill into the corner after a through ball from leroy fer , the match ended in a 0 – 2 norwich city victory . on 15 december , hooper scored in consecutive premier league matches , the one - time scunthorpe united frontman took one touch on his chest after a johan elmander lay off , before hitting a superb volley 30 yards out over michel vorm and into the roof of the net , levelling the score at 1 – 1 . hooper would score again on the boxing day fixture against fulham as his shot deflected off of aaron hughes and past goalkeeper david stockdale , thus making hooper the first ever norwich city player to score in four successive premier league matches at carrow road . hooper finished his first season at norwich as the club 's top scorer with eight goals , but was unable to prevent his side 's relegation from the premier league down into the championship . a calf injury then saw hooper miss the first couple of months of the following season . after returning to the side in october , he finally scored his first goal of the season on 22 november 2014 in a 3 – 3 draw at home against brighton . the goals then began to flow for hooper ; the striker scoring twice in a 6 – 1 win over millwall on boxing day where he was described as " outstanding " by manager neil adams , then after being dropped from the side he returned to score a hat trick on 7 february 2015 in a 4 – 0 win over blackpool , taking his total for the season to date up to nine goals . hooper eventually scored 12 goals in the league , and helped norwich to third place in the league . hooper only appeared briefly as a substitute during the promotion play - off ties against ipswich town and was an unused substitute in the play - off final at wembley against middlesbrough . norwich , however , won the final 2 – 0 to regain their place in the premier league . with norwich back in the premier league , hooper was struggling to hold down a place in the team . by september 2015 he had only played ten minutes in the opening league match against crystal palace , and an 89th - minute substitute appearance against southampton . a loan move to sheffield wednesday fell through despite the yorkshire club agreeing to pay norwich £ 500 , 000 and match hooper 's £ 32 , 000 weekly wage . hooper denied press reports that the move collapsed due to his demand for sheffield wednesday to provide him with a vip box at their stadium for his family and friends . he remained at norwich for a few more weeks , but sustained an ankle injury in training . sheffield wednesday made a further attempt to sign hooper on loan , and on 27 october he agreed to join them until january 2016 . hooper made his first appearance for sheffield wednesday on 31 october 2015 , coming on as a late substitute in a 1 – 0 win at home against nottingham forest in the championship . in his seventh appearance in all competitions for the club , hooper scored his first goal for sheffield wednesday in a 2 – 1 defeat at away against mk dons . in hooper 's final two games for sheffield wednesday before his loan expired , he managed to score four goals which contributed hugely in wednesday 's victories against bolton wanderers and leeds united . sheffield wednesday on 22 january 2016 , hooper joined sheffield wednesday in a full transfer signing a three and a half year deal . the fee was undisclosed but believed to be around £ 3 million . international career hooper has not represented england at any level . his paternal grandfather william hooper was raised in the scottish borders , and this led to hopes that hooper could be eligible to play for scotland . then scotland head coach craig levein sought clarification as to the place of birth his grandfather 's birth certificate recorded , as he had been born in a hospital in the english border town berwick - upon - tweed . the possibility was closed off when it was confirmed that his grandfather was included in the english births index . on 13 march 2011 , hooper was included by stuart pearce in his 31 - man squad for the england under - 21 team to play denmark and iceland . however , hooper pulled out of the squad due to injury . on 3 may 2011 , he was named in the 40 - man provisional squad for the uefa under - 21 championship , but did not make the final selection . in february 2012 , bbc sport reported that the football association of wales were investigating his eligibility , but hooper was unaware of having any welsh ancestry . hooper declared his desire to play for great britain at the 2012 summer olympics , but was not selected . in november 2012 , hooper was set to join team mate fraser forster in the england squad for their upcoming friendly against sweden in stockholm , after it was revealed the football association had contacted celtic about the fitness of hooper . they were handed a bleak prognosis by celtic 's medical team , meaning hooper couldn 't make the squad through injury . style of play hooper has all the main attributes to play as a striker , he is strong and can hold up the ball well . he is also a good finisher , he has been described as being a ' penalty box striker ' . however , he can also pass the ball well and this allows midfielders to play - off him . he has received praise since moving to scotland . newspaper the daily record described him as being one of the most skilled attackers in the spl . they also said that he had shown that he could deal with the physical nature of the scottish game , due to his ability to ride a challenge well . he is able to play the game at a very high tempo and has a very good first touch . one criticism that steve claridge had when analysing hooper 's game was that " [ he often ] played at either breakneck speed when involved in play or at walking pace when not " , claridge noted that hooper needed to work harder to make himself available to his teammates for passes , especially long balls out from defence . while at celtic , hooper struck up an excellent partnership with fellow striker anthony stokes . they scored over 40 goals between them in their first season together and were considered to be celtic 's best strike partnership , although on many occasions , especially for big matches , georgios samaras was often used alongside hooper . hooper expressed his disappointment at this because he felt that he worked very well with stokes . in their partnership hooper usually had a more advanced role , playing off the shoulder of the last defender , or in the box , and making runs in behind . his strength , pace , finishing ability and awareness made him suitably adapted to this role . stokes usually played a deeper role , coming short to get the ball and creating space through his dribbling skill and passing . although hooper is more suited to an advanced role , and stokes to a deeper one , they were capable of switching and both have the skills required to play in either role . this made it very hard for defenders to mark them . during his time as manager at rangers , ally mccoist showed his players footage of a goal hooper scored against them at celtic park . " he makes a run from the halfway line on the left hand side . i watched it and i showed our players it " , said mccoist , adding that " he [ hooper ] just has a desire to run and run and just get on the end of a cross . you can 't buy that , you can 't teach that " . career statistics as of match played 28 may 2016 . honours club grays athletic conference south : 2004 – 05 fa trophy : 2004 – 05 , 2005 – 06 hereford united football league two promotion : 2007 – 08 scunthorpe united football league one play - offs : 2008 – 09 celtic scottish premier league : 2011 – 12 , 2012 – 13 scottish cup : 2010 – 11 , 2012 – 13 norwich city football league championship play - offs : 2014 – 15 individual scottish premier league golden boot : 2011 – 12 pfa scotland team of the year : 2010 – 11 , 2011 – 12 celtic top scorer : 2010 – 11 , 2011 – 12 , 2012 – 13 scunthorpe united greatest ever player : 2012 scunthorpe united player of the year : 2008 – 09 scunthorpe united top scorer : 2008 – 09 , 2009 – 10 scottish premier league player of the month : november 2011 , january 2013