Farewell Hoppy: the champion talent-spotter

I remember vividly a conversation with Steve Hopcroft sometime during 2019.

It was an exchange expressing surprise that West Bromwich Albion had sold Morgan Rogers to Manchester City for an initial fee of around £4m, there or there abouts. ‘Hoppy’ wasn’t so much shocked that Rogers had gone, but more so that he had done so for such a small fee.

“He will be worth more than £60m one day.” (or words to that effect: I just remember the value more than the syntax)

As it happens, Steve was half-right, but only because he had undercooked the value of a player who is now being talked about in the £130m bracket.

That Rogers should find himself as one of the elite footballers in the country - featuring in England's World Cup campaign - is down in no short measure to the impact of Steve Hopcroft. Right now, there will be a fairly significant roll call of West Midland-sourced footballers sharing a similar debt of gratitude.

*****

Steve passed away at the weekend following a battle with cancer. He was one of the preeminent ‘behind-the-scenes’ football people in the West Midlands. His job was, essentially, to pick-out the best youngsters and feed them into the academy pathway of whichever club he worked for. But, there was so much more to him.

The outpouring for him within the community has been one of profound sadness, from those who were privileged to work with him, to reflections from the many players who feel they owe so much to him. He has been taken way too soon.

Hopcroft had an eye for finding the best young footballers. As a talent-spotter he was peerless – everyone in the Midlands’ football seemingly knew him – ensuring the players he sourced were looked after, and, crucially, that their families were included in that process. That was one of those aspects of the job that wasn't always appreciated to the outside world; he made people feel welcome. He made the community aspect as important as any player's professional development.

Steve, during his long spell as Albion's head of academy recruitment, was a key component of the process that helped create one of the stand-out football academies.

The staff who worked with him trusted and valued his judgement. He helped to instigate successful local, national and international partnerships, including St Kevin’s Football Club in Ireland, Gloucester Elite Performance Centre and many more, including centres within inner city areas and underrepresented communities.

I first came across Steve when I interviewed him for the Birmingham Mail following his move to Albion from Birmingham City in 2004. From 2014 we became colleagues and friends. My recollections are of a man who not only delivered his day job with flair, but was also a great guy, loaded with a brilliant sense of humour. It would be no exaggeration that Steve’s expertise for football headhunting, along with the conscientious work of Albion’s academy staff further up the chain, made the club a lot of money in player sales, transfer bolt-ons and solidarity payments in subsequent years.

Such was Steve's stock that by 2016 there was serious talk of him going to Manchester United to regenerate their youth network. He rejected that role. Hoppy finally left Albion in 2020, becoming Aston Villa's head of player talent ID, just at the time they began investing heavily into their own youth programme. Albion's academy, by then, was taking a different direction - he was not be the only one to make that move across the West Midlands.

Steve and I stayed in touch. He would occasionally pop up in my messages or WhatsApp, just to exchange pleasantries and gossip.

There was one particularly amusing story involving Hoppy that I will forever remember from our mutual time at Albion. But, in the interests of doing it justice, and because some stories are better told, I shall save it for the next The Liquidator podcast…

Hoppy's legacy will continue for many years. Today it might be Morgan Rogers; next year it will be somebody else. More products of Steve Hopcroft's work will emerge during the coming years, I'm sure.

In the meantime, my thoughts are with Steve, his family and those who knew him best.

RIP Hoppy.