Davie Cooper
David Cooper was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a winger.
Born in Hamilton, Cooper played as a youth for local side Hamilton Avondale, whilst also working as an apprentice printer for the club's owners. His talents were noticed by numerous top-flight clubs both in Scotland and England. Cooper chose to sign for Scottish Second Division side Clydebank in 1974, beginning his career as a professional footballer. Cooper continued to show potential at Clydebank, finishing as the club's top scorer in his second full season at Kilbowie Park and helping the club achieve successive league promotions in 1975–76 and 1976–77.
Cooper signed for Rangers in June 1977 for a fee of £100,000 at the age of 21. The next 12 years would see him become a Rangers stalwart, playing 540 games and winning numerous trophies with the Ibrox club, including the Scottish Premier Division in 1977–78, 1986–87 and 1988–89. In August 1989, Tommy McLean signed Cooper for Motherwell for a fee of £50,000. He played over 150 times for the Steelmen and was part of the team that won the 1991 Scottish Cup Final against Dundee United. Cooper also represented the Scotland national team from 1979 to 1990, in which he was capped 22 times and scored 6 goals. During this time, he represented Scotland at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, making two appearances at the tournament.
In his later career, Cooper returned to Clydebank in the capacity of a player/assistant coach. He intended to retire as a player at the end of the 1995 season, however on 22 March 1995 he suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld whilst filming Shoot, a youth coaching television programme. He died the following day at the age of 39. An inductee of the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, Cooper is regarded by many as having been one of Scottish football's greatest talents.
Early life
David Cooper was born in Hamilton, Scotland, on 25 February 1956 to John and Jean Cooper . His father was employed as a steel worker at the nearby Lanarkshire Steel Works, while his mother worked as a barmaid at the Lariat Hostelry in Hamilton. Along with his elder brother John, Cooper was a Rangers supporter in his youth and regularly attended matches at Ibrox with his father, later travelling by himself on local supporters buses to Glasgow.He initially attended Beckford Street Primary in Hamilton before moving on to Udston Primary. Cooper was soon made captain of the Udston primary team and played as an inside forward. As an Udston Primary player, Cooper and his team won the Shinwell Cup youth tournament, beating Low Waters Primary 4–2 in the final at Douglas Park, the former home of Hamilton Academical.
Following his primary education, Cooper attended St. John's Grammar School. Initially, Cooper was dissatisfied with his new surroundings, especially due to St John's failure to organise a school football team until his third year. Bill and Rose MacKenzie, who were friends of Cooper's parents, decided to set up a new youth football team called Udston United. Cooper became one of the club's first players and, when not training or playing matches, helped promote the new club in the local community.
Davie's older brother John, who was sixteen at the time, travelled to England for a trial period with Hull City. John found his spell there particularly difficult and struggled with homesickness and the tough-tackling defenders who were prevalent at the time. John returned to Scotland after two years and joined Larkhall Thistle.
Cooper himself later moved on to Hamilton Avondale, a local youth team founded by brothers Alan and Stuart Noble, the owners of the Avondale Works. He began with the under–16 team, before progressing to the under–18 team. His first International recognition came when he was selected to represent Scotland's Amateur League side and played against the youth squads of England, Northern Ireland and Wales. During this time he was also working as an apprentice printer at the Noble's Office at Hamilton Avondale. Rangers, Motherwell, Clyde and Clydebank, together with English sides Coventry City and Crystal Palace, all expressed an interest in signing Cooper.
Club career
Clydebank (1974–77)
Davie's apprenticeship as a printer with the Noble family at their Almada Street offices came to an end when he reached 18. By that point, Cooper had almost no involvement in football activities outside of his work. Stuart Noble, one of the owners of Hamilton Avondale, contacted Clydebank director Jack Steedman, who quickly appeared in his car outside the Avondale offices with the hope of convincing Cooper to join the club. Steedman signed the youngster on 16 May 1974. Years later, Steedman admitted: "I raided the Bankies' club safe and took the silver from the gaming machines in the social club and transferred it into pound notes. I took £300 worth of beer-stained notes, drove to the printing works in Hamilton where he worked and convinced him to sign for the club. In forty years of football, it was the best thing I ever did."At this point, under the management of Bill Munro, Clydebank were an ambitious outfit with players such as Jimmy Lumsden, Gregor Abel, Jim Fallon and Peter Kane in their ranks, albeit with limited training facilities and an ash training pitch. When describing Cooper's first spell with Clydebank, Fallon stated: "It definitely toughened him up, because these were the days where defenders were allowed to tackle really hard and you had to be a resilient character to keep charging down the wing in these circumstances."
Cooper made his debut for Clydebank against Airdrieonians in the Scottish League Cup. During this time, the League Cup format involved nine groups of four teams, Clydebank were placed in group seven with Airdrieonians, St Mirren and Stirling Albion. The first game took place on 10 August 1974; Airdrie won 4–0. His full debut was also against Airdrie in the second meeting of the two sides in the group, on Wednesday 28 August, but again Airdrie won, this time by 2–1. This game was his first appearance at New Kilbowie Park. Clydebank finished bottom of group seven with two wins and four losses.
Cooper's Scottish League debut came in the Second Division, in the last season before League re-construction, on Saturday 31 August 1974 where Clydebank were defeated 3–0 away to Queen of the South. He first played on the winning side for the Bankies on 30 November, when they beat Cowdenbeath at Kilbowie 2–1. His first goal for the team came two games later when, again at Kilbowie, he scored the third goal in the 4–1 defeat of Alloa Athletic. Cooper ended the season with 29 starts, 2 as a substitute, and scored 5 goals.
In the 1975–76 season, Cooper was one of four ever-presents. He finished top of the Clydebank goalscoring list with 13 in the League, three of which were penalties. His first hat-trick in senior football included two penalties at Alloa Athletic, where Clydebank won 3–1. Clydebank achieved promotion that season to the Scottish First Division, with their final match being a 2–0 win against Forfar Athletic at New Kilbowie Park, in which Cooper scored the opening goal from a penalty. Cooper played in all of Clydebank's 49 games that season, scoring 22 goals. Clydebank received a transfer bid of £65,000 from Aston Villa for Cooper's services, with Villa offering Cooper a salary more than treble what he was receiving at Clydebank. Despite this, the offer was brushed aside by Cooper and Clydebank, with the hopes of continued success going into the new division.
The following season found Clydebank to be a strong force in the 1976–77 Scottish First Division. They regularly battled for supremacy with a talented St Mirren side, at that point under the management of a young Alex Ferguson. The team achieved some remarkable results, including a 6–0 away win to East Fife on 4 December 1976 and an unprecedented 8–1 home victory against Arbroath on 3 January 1977, during which Cooper scored another hat-trick for the side. With the help of Cooper's talent, the club recorded a run of seventeen matches without defeat between December 1975 and October 1976.
A major opportunity was presented to Cooper when Clydebank were drawn against his boyhood club Rangers in the quarter-final of the Scottish League Cup in September 1976. Rangers, under the management of Jock Wallace, had secured the Scottish treble the previous season and were looking for young, creative players to add to their ranks. The first leg took place at Ibrox on 22 September 1976. Throughout the match, Clydebank and Cooper proved to be tricky opponents. Around two minutes in, defender John Greig tackled Cooper and said: "If I get another chance, I'll break your leg." The Clydebank side held their own and recorded a 3–3 draw with Rangers, with Cooper scoring the side's crucial equaliser in the 78th minute. The return leg match was held at Kilbowie Park on 6 October 1976. This time, Greig opened the scoring for the away side in the 43rd minute. Cooper levelled the scoring in the 60th minute and the game finished 1–1. A third meeting to decide the winner took place on 18 October 1976, which ended in a 0–0 draw. Finally, Rangers overcame the Clydebank team on 19 October 1976 at Firhill Stadium, the fourth meeting between the sides. Derek Parlane opened the scoring in the 6th minute, however Cooper equalised for Clydebank a minute later. Bobby McKean scored the decisive goal in the tie in the 61st minute, to ensure Rangers progressed to the semi-finals.
For his performances, it was clear that Rangers were ready to offer Cooper a contract. The Govan side initially offered Clydebank £50,000, the sum increasing numerous times, eventually reaching an agreement on £100,000 to secure Cooper as a Rangers player. He travelled with his father and elder brother to a meeting with Rangers executives including Wallace, Willie Waddell and Willie Thornton. The fee and a salary of £10,000 were agreed, of which Cooper received £3,500 after tax.
Soon to be a Rangers player, Cooper's final goal for the Bankies was against Raith Rovers in a 2–0 win at New Kilbowie on 23 April 1977. His final game for the club was against Falkirk at Brockville in a 4–2 win, a week later.