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Richard Hope (footballer)

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This article is about the footballer. For the actor, see Richard Hope (actor).

Richard Hope
Personal information
Full name Richard Paul Hope[1]
Date of birth (1978-06-22) 22 June 1978 (age 46)[1]
Place of birth Stockton-on-Tees, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1991–1995 Blackburn Rovers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Blackburn Rovers 0 (0)
1997 → Darlington (loan) 5 (0)
1997–1998 Darlington 57 (1)
1998 → Northampton Town (loan) 1 (0)
1998–2003 Northampton Town 134 (7)
2003–2004 York City 36 (2)
2004–2005 Chester City 28 (2)
2005–2007 Shrewsbury Town 75 (2)
2007–2008 Wrexham 33 (0)
2008–2009 Grimsby Town 6 (0)
Total 374 (14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Richard Paul Hope (born 22 June 1978) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. He played for Darlington, Northampton Town, York City, Chester City, Shrewsbury Town, Wrexham and Grimsby Town, making over 350 appearances in the Football League.

Career

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Blackburn Rovers

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Born in Stockton-on-Tees, Hope began his career as a trainee at Blackburn Rovers but made no appearances for the club.[2] He joined Darlington on one-month loan in January, which brought him his first league experience, and played five games in the Third Division.

Darlington

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He joined the club on a free transfer in the following month.[2] He was a regular for Darlington for the following season-and-a-half, making over 60 league and cup appearances,[2] but fell out of favour in the first half of the 1998–99 season and joined Northampton Town on loan in December 1998, which was quickly converted to a permanent signing a week later.[2]

Northampton Town

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Hope made over 150 appearances in four and a half seasons at Northampton, helping the club to automatic promotion to the Second Division in 2000.[3] Following the club's relegation to the Third Division at the end of the 2002–03 season, Hope was released by Northampton in August 2003.

York City

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Hope joined York City on a one-month contract in August 2003.[4] He then signed a three-month contract in the following month.[5] He stayed at York for the rest of the season but after the club was relegated to the Conference National at the end of the 2003–04 season he left the club.[6]

Chester City

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He then signed for Conference champions Chester City on a two-year contract.[7] Hope made 28 appearances in League Two for Chester in the 2004–05 season,[2] helping the club to avoid relegation.[8] He also scored in Chester's memorable Football League Trophy win over Sheffield Wednesday.[9]

Shrewsbury Town

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Shrewsbury Town signed Hope on free transfer in August 2005 after being allowed to leave Chester as he did not feature in manager Keith Curle's plans for the 2005–06 season.[10] He became a regular for Shrewsbury and was made club captain.[11] He made over 75 appearances in two seasons, helping the club to the League Two play-off final in May 2007.[12] Following defeat in the play-off final, Hope was released by Shrewsbury.

Wrexham

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His next port of call was to sign for Wrexham in June 2007.[13][14] He made 35 league and cup appearances for Wrexham in the 2007–08 season but was transfer listed in May 2008 following the club's relegation to the Conference.[15]

Grimsby Town

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He returned to League Two with a move to Grimsby Town after being handed a two-year contract by Alan Buckley in June.[16] However, after struggling to hold down a first team place, his contract at Grimsby was cancelled by mutual consent on 7 February 2009, departing Blundell Park after only featuring seven times during the 2008–09 season.[17]

Personal life

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After Hope retired from football, he retrained to work on oil rigs in the North Sea.[18] Hope's father, John, played League football as a goalkeeper, and his older brother Chris played as a defender.[19][20]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Richard Hope". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 24 May 2008.
  3. ^ "Cobblers enjoy promotion party". BBC Sport. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  4. ^ "Hope for City". Evening Press. 6 August 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  5. ^ "Hope pens York deal". BBC Sport. 15 September 2003. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
  6. ^ "Carlisle and York go down". BBC Sport. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  7. ^ "Chester swoop on Hope". BBC Sport. 8 June 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  8. ^ "Chester 2–2 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 16 April 2006. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  9. ^ "Sheffield Wednesday 1, Chester City 2". chesterchronicle.co.uk. 30 September 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Hope poised to seal Shrews switch". BBC Sport. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  11. ^ "Peters keeps the faith with Hope". BBC Sport. 29 June 2006. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  12. ^ Bevan, Chris (26 May 2007). "Bristol Rovers 3–1 Shrewsbury". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  13. ^ "Shrewsbury release defensive duo". BBC Sport. 29 May 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2007.
  14. ^ "Hope completes Wrexham transfer". BBC Sport. 6 June 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  15. ^ "Roberts and Llewellyn leave Reds". BBC Sport. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  16. ^ "Two more defenders join Mariners". BBC Sport. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  17. ^ "Hope Released". Grimsby Town F.C. 7 February 2009. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  18. ^ Madden, Lawrie (26 October 2009). "Careers after football: Richard Hope". Give Me Football. Archived from the original on 31 October 2009.
  19. ^ "Blyth Spartans chief close to double signing". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  20. ^ Amos, Mike (10 October 2013). "Sight lines". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
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