Chris Hope (footballer)

Chris Hope
Personal information
Full name Christopher Jonathan Hope
Date of birth (1972-11-14) 14 November 1972
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 AFC Rushden & Diamonds
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1990 Darlington 0 (0)
1990–1993 Nottingham Forest 0 (0)
1993–2000 Scunthorpe United 288 (19)
2000–2006 Gillingham 236 (13)
2006–2009 Rushden & Diamonds 128 (10)
2009–2011 Corby Town ? (?)
2011–2012 St Neots Town ? (?)
2012–2013 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 30 (4)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:40, 23 January 2009 (UTC).


Christopher Jonathan Hope (born 14 November 1972) is an English former footballer. Hope made over 500 appearances in the Football League for Scunthorpe United and Gillingham between 1993 and 2006.

Career

Born in Sheffield, Hope began his career as a trainee with Darlington in 1989 and then joined Nottingham Forest at the beginning of the 1990–91 season.[1] He did not make a first team appearance for either club and joined Scunthorpe United for £50,000 at the beginning of the 1993–94 season.[1] Hope was an integral part of the side at Glanford Park and made 333 appearances (288 in the league) for Scunthorpe in seven seasons.[1] A steady influence at the back, Hope made 177 successive appearances without missing a game.

In July 2000, Hope joined Gillingham for a transfer fee of £250,000, signing a four-year contract.[2] Hope made his debut in the club's first ever game in the First Division, a 3–1 home defeat to Stockport County, in August 2000,[3] made 145 consecutive appearances and was rewarded with a new three-year contract in March 2003.[4][5] He went on to play in 176 successive games before finally missing a game through suspension. Following the departure of ex-club captain Paul Smith, Hope was appointed the club captain for the Gills for their first season back in League One in the 2005–06 season.[6] He missed much of the 2005–06 season due to injury,[7][8] and was released by manager Ronnie Jepson at the end of the season having made over 250 league and cup appearances for Gillingham since joining from Scunthorpe.[1][9][10]

Hope signed a two-year deal with Conference National club Rushden & Diamonds in July 2006.[11][12] Rushden manager Paul Hart described him as "... a gutsy battler who shows great leadership, his integrity and honesty is a terrific example, and he is the perfect role model for our younger players. His experience will be of great benefit",[12] and named him team captain for the 2006–07 season.[13] He was released by Rushden & Diamonds at the end of the 2007–08 season owing to financial constraints,[14] and turned down a move to Dover Athletic, managed by former Gillingham team-mate Andy Hessenthaler, as he was unable to relocate to Kent.[15] He joined Conference North club Corby Town in June 2009 for the 2009–10 season.[16]

Hope joined Southern Football League Division One Central side St Neots Town in summer 2011. On 21 July 2012, Hope joined AFC Rushden & Diamonds.[17] During the 2012-2013 league campaign, he made 30 appearances for the club, scoring four goals.[18]

Hope's father, John, played League football as a goalkeeper,[19] and his younger brother Richard played as a defender.[20]

Playing statistics

(to end of 2008–09 season[21])

ClubSeasonsLeague
Apps (goals)		FA Cup
Apps (goals)		League Cup
Apps (goals)		Other
Apps (goals)		Total
Apps (goals)
Darlington 1989–90 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)0 (0)
Nottingham Forest 1990–930 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)0 (0)
Scunthorpe United 1993–00 288 (19) 18 (1) 14 (0) 13 (0)333 (20)
Gillingham 2000–06 236 (13)12 (2) 16 (0) 0 (0)264 (15)
Rushden & Diamonds2006–09128 (10)4 (1) 0 (0) 3 (0)135 (11)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Chris Hope". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  2. ↑ "Gills splash out again". BBC Sport. 5 July 2000. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  3. ↑ "Gillingham 1–3 Stockport". BBC Sport. 12 August 2000. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  4. ↑ "Hope welcomes Gills deal". BBC Sport. 13 March 2003. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  5. ↑ Bailey, Graeme (12 March 2003). "Gills pair pen new deals". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  6. ↑ "Hope dumbfounded by Gills defeat". BBC Sport. 14 September 2005. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  7. ↑ "Injured Hope has contract concern". BBC Sport. 8 December 2005. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  8. ↑ "Chris hopes for a new deal". Your Shepway News. KOS Media Ltd. 28 April 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-14. Gillingham captain Chris Hope says he hopes to snare a new contract for next season – despite finding himself out of action for much of it with injuries.
  9. ↑ "Hope among five Gills departures". BBC Sport. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  10. ↑ Bailey, Graeme (9 May 2006). "No Hope for Gills". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  11. ↑ Bailey, Graeme (11 July 2006). "Hope for Rushden". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  12. 1 2 "Diamonds swoop for ex-Gills star". BBC Sport. 8 July 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  13. ↑ "Hope awarded Diamonds captaincy". BBC Sport. 3 August 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
  14. ↑ "Burgess set to leave Nene Park". BBC Sport. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-14. Rushden and Diamonds have revealed that club captain Andy Burgess, player-coach Chris Hope and midfielder Marcus Kelly are all set to leave Nene Park.
  15. ↑ Howard, Tom (1 June 2009). "Former Gills star turns down Dover move". Your Dover News. KOS Media. Retrieved 2 June 2009. Dover Athletic have missed out on signing former Gillingham defender Chris Hope. ... Hessenthaler had been in talks with the Rushden & Diamonds defender for a number of weeks, but it appears the move is off, with Hope unable to move from his Northampton home to Kent.
  16. ↑ White, Andy (2 June 2009). "Drury Brings Hope To Corby". The Non-League Paper. Retrieved 2009-06-14. CORBY TOWN have signed centre-back Chris Hope following his departure from Rushden & Diamonds. The 36-year-old's contract at Nene Park expired at the end of the 2008/09 season and he rejected the offer of a new deal on reduced terms.
  17. ↑ http://www.afcdiamonds.com/afc-rushden-diamonds-capture-chris-hope
  18. ↑ http://www.afcdiamonds.com/player_profiles?pid=52&team=senior
  19. ↑ Amos, Mike (10 October 2013). "Sight lines". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "Blyth Spartans chief close to double signing". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle. 5 June 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Chris Hope playing statistics". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
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