Kenny Cooper Sr.

Football player infobox| playername= Kenny Cooper
fullname =


dateofbirth =
cityofbirth = Blackpool
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=5|in=11
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years =
1970-1979
clubs = Blackburn Rovers
Dallas Tornado
caps(goals) = 000 (0)
170 (0)
manageryears = 1979-1980
1980-1992
1992-1994
1995-1996
managerclubs =Houston Summit "(indoor)"
Baltimore Blast "(indoor)"
Baltimore Spirit "(indoor)"
Tampa Bay Terror "(indoor)"
pcupdate = 02 June 2008
ntupdate = 20 January 2007

Kenny Cooper Sr. (born Blackpool, England) is a former English soccer goalkeeper and coach. He spent ten seasons playing for the Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League and eighteen seasons coaching indoor soccer. He was the 1984 and 1988 Major Indoor Soccer League Coach of the Year.

Player

Cooper began his career with the Blackburn Rovers. In 1970, he was twenty-three and on the Rovers reserve squad when he decided to leave England for the North American Soccer League. He signed with the Dallas Tornado and quickly established himself as the team’s keeper of choice, playing twenty games that season. In 1971, injuries limited him to nine games, but the Tornado won the NASL championship. In 1972 and 1973, he was named a first team All Star and in 1975, he was a second team All Star.

Coach

In 1979, Cooper retired from playing and was immediately hired to replace Timo Liekoski as the head coach of the Houston Summit of Major Indoor Soccer League. Cooper took the Summit to the 1980 MISL championship game, where it lost to the New York Arrows. In 1980, the team’s owner, Bernie Rodin, had decided to move the team to the east coast, but was unsure which city. He tasked Cooper with deciding between Baltimore and Boston. When Cooper arrived in Baltimore, he “was excited from the beginning. It just reminded me of Liverpool.” He returned to Houston and inormed Rodin the team should relocate to Baltimore. [ [http://lavacafe.com/PAGES_SUB/main_STAMENKOVIC.html Cooper, Stamenkovic, Stankovic to be honored with inductions tonight] ] In 1984, he coached the Blast to its only championship in the original MISL and was the the 1984 and 1988 MISL Coach of the Year. Cooper also served as the Blast’s general manager. In 1992, the Blast folded along with the MISL. With the collapse of the Blast, Cooper was instrumental in the forming of the Baltimore Spirit in July 1992. The Spirit entered the indoor National Professional Soccer League. Cooper to the Spirit to the playoffs in both of his seasons as coach. In 1994, stepped down as head coach, but remained as the team president. In 1995, Cooper joined with Bill Collins, a minor-league baseball owner, to enter an exspansion team into the NPSL. He went on to serve as general manager and coach for the team, known as the Tampa Bay Terror. He took the team to a 14-26 record and was replaced by Perry Van der Beck for the 1996-1997 season.

Personal

He is the father of Kenny Cooper who plays forward for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer.

He and Mike Renshaw currently co-own a wine import business. [ [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/soccer/stories/071906dnspofcdcooper.194740c.html Cooper soccer legacy adds a few feet] ]

Honors

Championships
* NASL: 1971
* MISL: 1984

All Star
*First team: 1972, 1973
*Second team: 1975

Coach of the Year (MISL): 1984, 1989

References

External links

* [http://nasljerseys.com/Players/C/Cooper.Ken.htm NASL statistics and photos]