Former Premier League forward becomes second ex-top flight star to sign for SEVENTH-tier Kettering Town this season

Seventh-tier Kettering Town have announced the signing of a second former Premier League striker.

Town, who are known as the Poppies, play in the Southern League Premier Division Central, which is a feeder division for the National League north and south.

Playing at a ground with a capacity of 2,500, the team is made up of part-time players and they managed to finish only 15th out of 21 teams in the division last season.

That hasn't stopped them signing some big-name players, however, and they have moved to sign a journeyman who once played in the top flight in a bid to strengthen their attack and improve their fortunes.

It is former Norwich forward Gary Hooper who has put pen to paper on a deal with the club, becoming the second former top flight footballer to join the team at the back end of his career, aged 36.

Hooper is famed for playing for Celtic between 2010 and 2013, where he featured in the Champions League, making seven appearances and scoring two goals in the European competition.

He then ventured into English football with Norwich, joining the club for a fee in the region of £5million. There, he would play in the Premier League, making a total of 34 appearances in the division.

During that time, he scored six goals, before he began to fall down the pyramid, initially lining up for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.

From there, he would play for the likes of Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand, Kerala Blasters in India and Gulf United in Dubai, before returning to England with Barnet.

He was released by the London club at the end of last season, and has now joined Kettering.

But he is not the only big-name signing the club have made in recent times, with another former Premier League player currently lighting up the league in a Town shirt.

Nile Ranger, who was previously on the books at Newcastle in the Premier League, currently leads the Kettering line and will now have support in the form of another ex-Prem player.

Having featured for the likes of Crystal Palace and Southampton in his youth career, Ranger joined the Newcastle academy and went onto play 62 times for the club, including 26 times in the Premier League.

He would, however, have issues outside of football during his career, including making homophobic comments on social media, being arrested on more than one occasion and charges of criminal damage and common assault - the last of which was in 2013.

Now 33, he has featured for the likes of Swindon, Blackpool and Southend in his career, and left Boreham Wood in 2022. He would, however, appear for Kettering in a league match in September, signing a deal with the club.

Kettering posted on X of Hooper's signing: 'KTFC are excited to announce the signing of experienced forward Gary Hooper, who has played at Conference south and National level, the Championship, League One, Scottish Premiership (Celtic), Premiership (Norwich City) & Nat League & hope that he has a rewarding time at LP.

The club's next game is scheduled for Saturday at 3pm against AFC Sudbury.