James Frederick Hooper was a Cairns labourer and soccer player. He was reported playing in scratch games in 1910, and later joined newly formed Rangers when organised club football restarted locally in 1912.
Hooper enlisted in April 1916 at the age of 32 and married to Lilian. Sent to the Chermside Signalling school in Brisbane, he played for the school’s soccer team in a 4-all draw against a Brisbane representative team, before departing for Europe in November.
Hooper was initially with the 31st Battalion but spent most of his war in England where he worked in the signalling section of the Engineering Training Depot at Sheffield, and later in similar roles in Sutton Veny and Clifton. He was sent to France with the 5th Division Signalling Company in late September 1918, a mere six weeks before armistice.
His later obituary stated he suffered from gassing during this time, which affected him for years. After the war Hooper returned to Lilian and their children. Hooper later became a farmer before dying suddenly in 1935 at the age of 51.