Gary Hooper’s move to Australian A-League side Wellington Pheonix got off to a bad start, with the 32-year-old scoring just one 1 goal in his first seven top-flight appearances before the turn of the year. He’s turned things around in 2020, however, scoring and assisting 8 goals in his last nine A-League games.
Hooper’s career spiralled in 2018 after he picked up a serious injury in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on December 26, 2017. The striker spent 15 months on the treatment table before returning in March 2019, but he ended up being released in July as his contract was up.
Wellington came calling in October but Hooper initially struggled to make an impact at the Sky Stadium. His debut goal for the Nix came in his second appearance – a 3-2 defeat to Melbourne City (November 3, 2019) – but he wouldn’t find the back of the net again for more than two months.
Hooper saw out the year with an assist in Wellington’s 3-1 win over Western United (December 28) and enjoyed a rich vein of form in the two months that followed.
The 32-year-old scored his second league goal in Wellington’s 2-1 win over Central Coast (January 4, 2020), bagged an assist in their 2-0 win over Western Sydney (January 11), scored twice in the 4-2 defeat to Perth Glory (February 7), had an assist in the Nix’s 1-0 win over Melbourne City (February 15), scored in their 3-2 win over Central Coast (March 8) and scored and made an assist in the 3-0 win over Melbourne (March 15).
Hooper is finally living his best life after a difficult two years. He’s contracted for only one season but may be hot property after an impressive turnaround.
