By David Gold
October 28 – Celtic’s Gary Hooper has said that he would be keen to be a part of the British football team selected by Stuart Pearce at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Hooper joins the likes of England’s David Beckham and Wales’ Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey in publicly expressing his desire to compete in the British squad.
Hooper, 23, was born in England but has not represented the national team at any level.
In March 2011 it was though that he may be picked to represent Scotland before it was discovered he was not eligible.
Since his move to Celtic from Scunthorpe for £2.4 million ($3.9 million/€2.7 million) last year 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 Football Championship but did not go to the tournament.
But he remains hopeful of catching Pearce’s eye, especially having scored 24 goals in just 36 appearances for Celtic.
“I’m from somewhere not far from the Olympic Stadium at all so it would be nice to play there,” said Hooper.
“It would be a good stage and it would be great to play with all the family there.
“It’s a massive event, massive, it would be nice to be part of that.”
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