Colm Cooper

Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper

Personal information
Irish name	Colm Cúipéir
Sport	Gaelic football
Position	Right corner-forward
Born	3 June 1983 (1983-06-03) (age 28) Killarney, County Kerry
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Club(s)
Years	Club
2000–present	Dr. Croke's
Club Titles
Kerry titles	3
Munster titles	1
All-Ireland Titles	0
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2002–present	Kerry	54(17–195)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	4
All Irelands	4
NFL	3
All Stars	7

Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper (born 3 June 1983 in Killarney, County Kerry) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football with his local club Dr. Croke’s and has been a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team since 2002. Cooper is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation.

Playing career

Club

Cooper helped Dr. Crokes win the 2000 Kerry Senior Football Championship, aged just 16.^[1] They beat An Ghaeltacht in the final.^[1]

Crokes reached the Kerry final again in 2005 and 2006, but were defeated on both occasions by South Kerry. However, South Kerry are a divisional side and not a club, therefore Crokes qualified to represent the county in the Munster Senior Club Football Championship. In 2006 Dr. Crokes won the Munster Club Championship, beating The Nire of Waterford in the decider. They advanced to the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship after beating Moorefield of Kildare after a replay in the semi-final, and faced Crossmaglen of Armagh in the All-Ireland Club final in March 2007. The game finished in a draw. Crossmaglen won the replay to claim their fourth All-Ireland title. In 2010 Cooper played a vital role in beating Austin Stacks in Tralee in the Championship final finally giving Corkes the title after the 3 losses in finals. Cooper and Crokes were back again in 2011 to win back to Back county titles.

Inter-county

Cooper was first called up to the Kerry Senior team in 2002.^[1] After strong performances in the National Football League, he continued his rise in that year's Championship, with excellent performances against Wicklow, Kildare, Galway and Cork on route to the All-Ireland final, where they faced Armagh. Armagh defeated Kerry in a close encounter. Cooper was awarded an All Star award for his performances that year.^[1]

In 2003 Kerry won the Munster Senior Football Championship, but were knocked out of the All-Ireland Championship by Tyrone at the semi-final.

2004 proved to be a very successful year for Cooper and Kerry. It began with the county winning the 2004 National League, with victory over Galway in the decider. They also defended their Munster title, before going on to win the All-Ireland Championship – beating Mayo in the final. Cooper put in another excellent performance in the final, scoring 1–05 including a superb individual goal where he fielded a high ball under pressure before taking on three defenders and slotting it into the Mayo net. He received another All Star and was named Texaco Footballer of the Year.

Kerry won their third consecutive Munster Championship in 2005, beating old rivals Cork in the decider. Kerry once again reached the All-Ireland final, this time against Tyrone. After a bright start, Cooper was injured in a clash with Tyrone goalkeeper Pascal McConnell which limited his involvement. Tyrone won the game 1–16 to 2–10. He did however win a third All Star.

Cooper won a second National League medal with Kerry in 2006, once again beating Galway in the final. In the Championship Cork defeated Kerry in the Munster final. Kerry however, did advance to the All-Ireland final, where they once again met Mayo. Kerry won the game by 13 points and Cooper was again one of Kerry's main contributors scoring 1–02. He was the Kerry captain for part of that year, although regular captain Declan O'Sullivan was restored as captain for the All-Ireland final. After wining the game, the Sam Maguire Cup was lifted by both O' Sullivan and Cooper. He was nominated but not selected for an All Star that year.

In 2007 Cooper was instrumental in Kerry regaining their Munster Championship title after an enthralling game against Cork, which Kerry won 1–15 to 1–13. Having been quiet for long spells, he burst into life and in a five minute period scored 1–02. After beating Dublin by two points in the semi-final, Kerry progressed to face their bitter rivals Cork in the first ever all-Munster All-Ireland final. Kerry comfortably beat Cork 3–13 to 1–09, to become the first team to retain the title since Cork themselves 17 years before. Cooper got the goal that put Kerry in the driving seat, rising to fist the ball over the onrushing Alan Quirke. Cooper finished the game with 1-05. He received another All Star and was nominated as one of three contenders for 2007 Footballer of the Year. He was also named on the GPA Team of the Year.

Kerry reached the 2008 National League final, but were beaten by Derry. Cork beat Kerry in the 2008 Munster final. Kerry nevertheless advanced to the All-Ireland final, to face Tyrone for the third time in six years. Tyrone once again came out on top. Cooper did however win a fifth All Star award that year and was once again named on the GPA Team of the Year.

Colm Cooper made a poor start to the 2009 championship in the Munster championship and early qualifier games by his own standards. He and Tomás Ó Sé were dropped from the starting Kerry 15 for the qualifier game against Antrim, due to a breach of team discipline. Cooper came on against Antrim and made an immediate impact notching 4 frees in another unconvincing win for Kerry. Kerry progressed to face Dublin in the quarter final and were given little chance of beating a Dublin side after winning their fifth Leinster Championships in a row. Dublin had the usual support of a strong Croke Park crowd and media behind them. However, within a minute Cooper had Kerry in front with a finely taken goal. They nullified Dublin's tradition of making a strong start by making a blitzkrieg of their own and were a whopping 1–13 to 0–03 ahead at the break. The game ended with Kerry on top by a 17 point margin and Cooper announcing his return to form with a massive haul of 1–08. Cooper and Kerry brushed Meath aside in a low key semi final before they faced against Cork in the semi final. For the first time in their 6 meetings in Croke Park, the rebels were the punters choice for the victory. Much was made of Anthony Lynch's duel with Cooper as it was felt the Lynch had got the better of "The Gooch" in the seasons earlier meetings. Once again Cooper and Kerry showed their class on the big day. Lynch was booked early on for consistent fouling on Cooper who was the fulcrum of many Kerry attacks. Kerry eventually won a gripping, tough encounter 0-16 to 1-09 giving Cooper his fourth All Ireland Medal at just 26.

In April 2010, Cooper sustained a serious eye injury in a NFL Division 1 win over Monaghan. He torn a duct in one of his eyes: doctors in Kerry expressed concern about his condition. He collided with Monaghan defender Darren Hughes after seven minutes and required treatment on and off the field.^[2] However, he returned to the Kerry team for the championship.

International Rules

Cooper has represented Ireland in the International Rules Series.

Province

Cooper has played for Munster in the Railway Cup.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "cul4kidz profile on Cooper". Cul4kidz website. September 2004. http://www.cul4kidz.com/culstarsfball_cooper.htm. Retrieved 22 March 2009. 
2. ^ "Eye injury leaves Gooch on the sidelines". RTÉ Sport (Raidió Teilifís Éireann). 2010-04-13. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2010/0413/cooperc.html. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 

External links

• cul4kidz profile
• Dr. Crokes Official Website
• Official Kerry GAA Website

Teams

Persondata
Name	Cooper, Colm
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 June 1983
Place of birth	Killarney
Date of death
Place of death