Junior Hoilett

He scored six times during his loan campaign with braces against Alemannia Aachen and Hansa Rostock, as well as individual goals against 1860 Munich and 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

David Wayne Hoilett (born 5 June 1990), known as Junior Hoilett, is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a left winger for Scottish Professional Football League side Aberdeen and the Canada national team.

After impressing in a youth tournament, Hoilett signed for English club Blackburn Rovers at the age of 13, and was loaned to SC Paderborn and FC St. Pauli in the German 2. Bundesliga due to work permit issues.

After taking a year to make the decision to move to England, Hoilett signed for Rovers in 2003.

After moving to England, he attended St Bede's Roman Catholic High School in Blackburn.

Hoilett progressed through Blackburn's youth system before signing his first contract at the age of 16.

However, he suffered a setback when he was initially unable to earn a work permit to play in the United Kingdom.

In order to qualify for one in future, Blackburn looked to loan Hoilett to a club in another European country, with the player rejecting possible moves to Belgium and France.

Hoilett eventually agreed to a loan move to Germany, joining SC Paderborn.

Paderborn were later relegated, ending the 2007–08 2. Bundesliga season in 17th position.

He made his senior debut for the club against Kickers Offenbach, coming on as a substitute for Sven Lintjens in a 3–2 victory on 3 February 2008, aged 17.

Hoilett's first match in the starting eleven was against 1899 Hoffenheim on 9 March 2008.

Hoilett scored his only goal of his loan campaign on 18 May 2008, against Borussia Mönchengladbach in what would be his final game for the club.

Hoilett was loaned to another German club in the 2. Bundesliga, FC St. Pauli, for the 2008–09 2. Bundesliga season.

He made his debut for the Hamburg-based side against Greuther Fürth on 22 August 2008.

He made his Rovers debut in 2009 and played three full Premier League seasons for them before a transfer to Queens Park Rangers in 2012.

Hoilett spent four years at the Loftus Road club – alternately in the Premier League and Championship – before moving to Cardiff on the expiration of his contract.

His final game would come in the form of a 1–0 loss against Rot Weiss Ahlen on 3 May 2009.

St. Pauli finished the season in eighth place.

In January 2009, Hoilett's home club Blackburn again applied for him to receive a work permit for him to play football in England.

In the summer of 2009, Hoilett was granted a work permit on appeal, allowing him to continue his fledgling career in England at the Premier League level with Blackburn.

Blackburn chose not to send him to a third loan spell in Germany, rejecting an approach from Mainz 05.

After impressing during the club's pre-season schedule, Hoilett made his debut for Blackburn in the opening day of the 2009–10 season as a late substitute in place of El Hadji Diouf during a 2–0 defeat to Manchester City.

He was named in the starting line-up for the team's following match and scored his first competitive goal for Rovers in a 3–1 League Cup win over Gillingham on 25 August 2009.

His performances in the early stages of the campaign prompted the club to open talks over a contract extension as Hoilett was in the final year of his original deal.

Hoilett was involved in Blackburn's dramatic League Cup win against Chelsea on 2 December 2009.

Coming on as a second half substitution, he won a stoppage time penalty which Benni McCarthy converted to put Rovers 3–2 up, before Paulo Ferreira equalised in the 122nd minute.

However, Hoilett converted the fifth penalty to help Rovers to a 4–3 shoot-out win and a place in the semi-finals.

He then started his first league match on 12 December against Hull City, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw at the KC Stadium.

Hoilett made his senior international debut for Canada in 2015.

In his second season with Cardiff, he helped the side win promotion to the Premier League by finishing as Championship runners-up during the 2017–18 season.

He was part of their squad at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023, reaching the semi-finals of the 2021 tournament.

Hoilett was born in Brampton, Ontario, one of four children to David and Ingrid Hoilett.

Both of his parents are of Jamaican descent, with his father hailing from Ocho Rios.

His father previously worked as a DJ and music promoter.

He has described his upbringing as "a very sporty childhood", playing against his three siblings in numerous sports.

Hoilett played both baseball and basketball at youth level before settling on association football at age 11.

His younger brother Jaineil also became a footballer, playing in Germany at amateur level.

He played youth soccer in Canada with Brampton Youth SC, CS Azzurri, and Oakville SC.

He travelled the world with his club and gained attention at a tournament in Wales; he turned down an extended trial with Manchester United to join Blackburn Rovers as he believed he had more chance of breaking into the first team at the latter.