Colm Cooper
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|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Date of Birth | June 3, 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Kerry, Ireland | ||
| Nickname(s) | The Gooch | ||
| Club information | |||
| Club | Dr. Crokes | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Club(s)* | |||
| Club | Years | Apps (scores) | |
| Dr. Crokes | 2000 - Present | ||
| Inter County | |||
| County | Kerry | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Inter County(ies)** | |||
| County | Years | Apps (scores) | |
| Kerry | 2002 - Present | 34 (10-88) | |
| Inter County Titles | |||
| Munster Titles | 3 | ||
| All-Ireland | 2 | ||
| All-Stars | 3 | ||
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* club appearances and scores |
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Colm Cooper (born June 3, 1983) is a Gaelic footballer from County Kerry in Ireland. Colm has been the Kerry captain for the 2006 All-Ireland senior football championship, although he was dropped as captain in favour of his team-mate Declan O'Sullivan for the final in Croke Park, on September 17, 2006.
[edit] Football career
He is known nationwide by his nickname "The Gooch". He burst onto the scene in '02 after a solid performance in a league final against Laois. He continued his rise in the following championship by singlehandedly tearing apart Wicklow, Kildare, Galway and Cork in the qualifiers before Kerry suffered a shock defeat to Armagh. Again he was the star man for Kerry in 2003 before Kerry were again caught out by Tyrone, this time in the semi final. However in 2004 he finally won the All-Ireland with Kerry after beating Mayo in the final with Colm putting in a remarkable show, scoring 1-05 including a superb individual goal where he fielded a high ball under pressure before taking on 3 defenders and slotting it into the Mayo net. In 2005, after a bright start to the final, Cooper was injured in a suspicious clash with Tyrone Keeper Pascal McConnell which limited his involvement. Kerry crumbled 1-16 to 2-10. Cooper played in his 4th All-Ireland final on September 17, 2006 against Mayo; a remarkable feat for a man of just 23. Kerry ended up beating Mayo by 13 points and despite Mayo's best efforts he was a thorn in their side, creating scores and winning frees. He was Kerry's joint top scorer with a tally of (1-02). He has now scored 4 goals in 3 games against Mayo.
Cooper was nominated but not selected for an All Star in 2006.
[edit] Trivia
- He is equally strong with both feet.
- Despite his small stature, many of today's backs find him unmarkable due to his remarkable skills on the ball. It has been alleged that because of this he finds himself continually targeted for illegal rough treatment. An accusation levelled at the Armagh and Tyrone teams of recent years and Limerick and Cork teams in Munster.
- Cooper has not enjoyed the best year in 2006 with many citing personal problems and the heavy burden of expectation on him. Despite this, many see his recent improvement in front of goal as a sign that he is slowly coming back to his best. This proved to be the case with a fine performance against Mayo including scoring a goal from an acute angle.
- Since he has been involved with Kerry, Kerry have been the All-Ireland Champions or defeated by the eventual winners every year. Kerry won in 2004 and 2006, lost the final in 2005 and 2002 and lost to eventual winners Tyrone in 2003.
[edit] External links
| Kerry Senior Football Team | ||
|---|---|---|
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1 D. Murphy | 2 M. Ó Sé | 3 M. McCarthy | 4 T. O'Sullivan | 5 T. Ó Sé | 6 S. Moynihan | 7 A. O'Mahony | 8 D. Ó Sé | 9 T. Griffin | 10 S. O'Sullivan | 11 D. O'Sullivan (Captain) | 12 P. Galvin | 13 C. Cooper | 14 K. Donaghy | 15 MF. Russell | Subs: 16 Kieran Cremin, 17 Eoin Brosnan, 18 Darren O'Sullivan, 19 Eamonn Fitzmaurice, 20 Bryan Sheehan, 21 Mossie Lyons, 22 Brendan Guiney, 23 Ronan O'Connor, 24 Padraig Reidy, 25 Paul O'Connor, 26 Killian Young, 27 Ronan Hussey, 28 Kieran O'Leary, 29 Aodán MacGearailt, 30 Adrian O'Connell. |
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