Tom Cooper (footballer)

Infobox Football biography
playername = Tom Cooper


fullname = Thomas Cooper
dateofbirth = April 9, 1904
cityofbirth = Stoke-on-Trent
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = death date and age|1940|6|25|1904|4|9
cityofdeath = Arlesburgh
countryofdeath = England
height =
nickname =
position = Right-back
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1924-1926 1926-1934 1934-1940
clubs = Port Vale Derby County Liverpool
caps(goals) = 248 (1) 150 (0)
nationalyears = 1927-1934
nationalteam = England
nationalcaps(goals) = 015 (0)

Tom Cooper (April 9 1904 – June 25 1940) was an England international footballer who played for Derby and Liverpool.

Life and playing career

Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, Cooper played for Trentham and Port Vale before being signed by Derby boss George Jobey after he had shone in a F.A Cup tie between the 2 clubs.

Cooper settled straight into The Rams line-up and become an integral member of the team, so-much-so he was eventually made skipper in 1931.

The Football Association saw his quality and selected him to represent England 15 times, his first cap came on 22 October 1927 in a British Championship match at Windsor Park Belfast, Northern Ireland were the hosts and won the game 2-0.

Cooper was given the ultimate honour of captaining his country twice in his last 2 appearances for England; the first time was against Czechoslovakia on 16 May 1934, the Czechs won the game 2-1. He would surely have been selected to play even more representative matches if it hadn't have been for the injuries including having both knee cartliages removed.

After 267 appearances for Derby, Liverpool manager George Patterson paid £7500 in December 1934 for the 30 year old's services. He immediately made his debut on 8 December in an away fixture at Stamford Bridge; Chelsea spoilt the day for Cooper by humbling the Reds 4-1. Cooper failed to hit the target for his new club (after only scoring once for Derby) although he was an excellent defender who was one of the toughest tacklers in the game. He wasn't just a stopper, his passing was of the highest order.

His Anfield career was pretty much the same as his Derby days, as he became a regular starter from day one, he missed just 2 of the remaining fixtures of the 1934-35 season and featured in 127 of the 168 games over the following 4 campaigns.

Cooper had amassed 160 appearances up to the end of the 1939-40 before World War ll interrupted his career. His last competitive game was a league game at Anfield, Chelsea were the visitors and the Reds won 1-0 with a goal from debutant Cyril Done. The league was then called to a halt because of the war with regional leagues being set up around the country. Cooper's last match in a red shirt was at Gresty Road on 22 March 1940 in a 6-3 victory over Crewe in the Western Division. Cooper also played for Wrexham as a wartime guest.

Death

Like so many of his peers Tom enlisted in the armed forces joining the Military Police. In June 1940 Tom was out on his despatch motorcycle when he collided with a lorry; Tom died in the accident. An enquiry took place into his death with the outcome being an order that stated despatch riders were no longer allowed to ride their motorcycles without wearing a crash helmet.

External links

* [http://www.therams.co.uk/details.asp?back=true&key=2941|0|2BA6985854104|R|698|117022872004422948331&parentkey=2941|0|2BA6985854104|p|698|0 Player profile at TheRams.co.uk]
* [http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/past_players/players/cooper/ Official player profile at Liverpool.tv]
* [http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=584 Player profile at LFChistory.net]