Hooper made his Reds debut at Wembley of all places as a second half substitute for the injured Bruce Grobbelaar in the 1-1 draw with Everton in the Charity Shield. Hooper then started the 1986-87 season at Newcastle, becoming only the fourth keeper to start a campaign for Liverpool in 24 years and played the first eight games until Grobbelaar returned.

A memorable moment in Hooper's Reds career came at Stoke City's Victoria Ground in 1987 when deputising for the injured Grobbelaar in an FA Cup 3rd Round tie, and became the hero when he made a series of fine stops to prevent an upset including a brilliant injury time save.

The following season 1988-89 saw Hooper get an extended run in the team. With Grobbelaar ruled out through illness, 'Hooper man' as the KOP dubbed him deputised well as the last line of the Reds defence. However at the turn of 1989, Hooper lost his place to the fit again Grobbelaar.

Under new manager Graeme Souness Hooper bounced back and was preferred to Grobbelaar for the game at Old Trafford against Manchester United in October 1991 and produced a brilliant display as the game ended goalless. However injury set in and Grobbelaar was soon back as Number One.

The 1992-93 season saw the capture of David James to Anfield and it appeared Hooper's days might be over at Liverpool. However, due to James suffering a dip in confidence and Grobbelaar jetting back and forwards to Zimbabwe for World Cup duty Hooper got his chance.

However, despite some notable good display's, playing behind an ever changing back four didn't help communication and after playing in the 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Bolton at Anfield, Hooper was back on the sidelines once again and that proved to be his last game for the club.

Hooper left Anfield to join Kevin Keegan at Newcastle United in 1993. Things started well for him at St James' Park when he was first choice and almost scored in a game against Everton at Goodison Park when he hit the bar from a goal kick! However, things turned sour at Newcastle when he made a series of errors that had the Geordie boo boys on his back. So bad was the hate mail he received he decided to retire from football.