Charlie Cooper (footballer)

Charlie Cooper
Personal information
Full name Charlie Terrence Cooper[1]
Date of birth (1997-05-01) 1 May 1997[2]
Place of birth Stockton-on-Tees, England
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Playing position Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Forest Green Rovers
Number 15
Youth career
2007–2015 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015– Birmingham City 0 (0)
2016 → Forest Green Rovers (loan) 0 (0)
2016 → York City (loan) 5 (0)
2016–2017 → Forest Green Rovers (loan) 21 (0)
2017– Forest Green Rovers 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:24, 5 August 2017 (UTC).

Charlie Terrence Cooper (born 1 May 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for League Two club Forest Green Rovers.

Cooper began his career with Birmingham City, but never played for their first team. He spent time on loan at National League clubs York City and Forest Green Rovers before joining the latter on a permanent basis in 2017 after their promotion to the Football League.

Life and career

Early life and career

Cooper is the son of former footballer Mark Cooper[2] and grandson of England international Terry Cooper.[4] He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham,[5] while his father was a Hartlepool United player.[6] The family later moved to the Midlands, where Cooper attended Alderbrook School in Solihull.[2] He was noticed by representatives of Birmingham City when playing in a cup final, and joined their Academy in 2007.[2] He took up a scholarship with the club in July 2013.[7] Intervewed in early 2014, he assessed his strength as passing, and felt he needed to improve his heading.[2]

Cooper signed his first professional contract, of two years, in May 2015. According to coach Steve Spooner, "Charlie is like the conductor of the orchestra; he sets the tone. He's learnt how to slow games down and speed games up. His range of passing has improved, as well as his goal scoring. And I think there is more to come from him in that area."[8]

National League football

Cooper joined National League club Forest Green Rovers on a month's youth loan on 23 January 2016.[9] He was an unused substitute for four matches[5] before Birmingham recalled him.[10] He was a member of the Birmingham reserve team that lost the 2016 Birmingham Senior Cup final to National League North champions Solihull Moors.[11]

On 26 October of the following season, he was loaned to another National League club, this time York City.[12] He went straight into the starting eleven for the next match, at home to Sutton United. According to Dave Flett of the York Press, Cooper "introduced some much-needed forward thrust" to the midfield as the match ended 2–2.[13] He started four more matches, all in the league,[5] before returning to Birmingham after one month.[14]

On 9 December, Cooper rejoined Forest Green Rovers – who were by that time under his father's management – for another month.[15] After he made five appearances during the month, Birmingham allowed the loan to be extended to the end of the season.[16] He was a regular starter throughout his loan spell, and helped the club gain promotion to the Football League for the first time in the club's history.[5][17]

League football with Forest Green Rovers

Birmingham had confirmed in March that Cooper would be released when his contract expired at the end of the season,[18] and he signed a two-year contract with Forest Green on 15 June 2017.[17] He made his Football League debut on the opening day of the 2017–18 season, in the starting eleven for the visit of Barnet to The New Lawn in League Two. He took the corner kick from which Christian Doidge headed Forest Green's first Football League goal, and played the whole of the match, which finished 2–2.[19]

Career statistics

As of match played 8 August 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City 2015–16[20] Championship000000—00
2016–17[21] Championship00—00—00
Total 000000—00
Forest Green Rovers (loan) 2015–16[5] National League00———00
York City (loan) 2016–17[5] National League50———50
Forest Green Rovers (loan) 2016–17[5] National League210——7[lower-alpha 1]0280
Forest Green Rovers 2017–18[22] League Two1000100020
Total 220001070300
Career total 270001070350
  1. ↑ Four appearances in FA Trophy, three in National League play-offs

Honours

Forest Green Rovers

References

  1. ↑ "EFL: Club retained and released lists published". English Football League. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Blue kid on the block – Charlie Cooper". Birmingham City F.C. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "Charlie Cooper". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Kendrick, Mat (9 December 2016). "Birmingham City youngster Charlie Cooper goes on loan with his dad Mark". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "C. Cooper". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "Charlie Cooper". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "List of Players Registered as Scholars in Accordance with Rule C.3 Between 01/07/2013 and 31/07/2013" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 41. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  8. ↑ Lewis, Peter (6 May 2015). "Youngsters sign first pro deals". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  9. ↑ Loveridge, Ashley (23 January 2016). "Forest Green: Birmingham City starlet Charlie Cooper joins Forest Green on one-month loan deal". Western Telegraph. Haverfordwest. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  10. ↑ Birmingham City F.C. [@bcfc] (19 February 2016). "Blues have implemented their recall option on Charlie Cooper, who has been at @FGRFC_Official on a Youth Loan" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 August 2017 – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ Dick, Brian (5 May 2016). "Birmingham Senior Cup final: Birmingham City U21s 1 Solihull Moors 2". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Signing alert: Birmingham City youngster Charlie Cooper joins York City on loan". The Press. York. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  13. ↑ Flett, Dave (31 October 2016). "Five Things We Learned from York City's 2–2 home draw with Sutton". The Press. York. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  14. ↑ Flett, Dave (1 December 2016). "York City to unveil new on-loan striker and centre back in time for Tranmere test". The Press. York. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Charlie Cooper: Forest Green Rovers add Birmingham City midfielder on loan". BBC Sport. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  16. ↑ "Charlie Cooper: Birmingham City youngster extends loan with Forest Green Rovers". BBC Sport. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  17. 1 2 "Charlie Cooper: Forest Green sign Birmingham City loanee on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  18. ↑ "Club makes decisions on young prospects". Birmingham City F.C. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "Forest Green 2–2 Barnet: Debutants blow two-goal lead". Sky Sports. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  20. ↑ "Games played by Charlie Cooper in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  21. ↑ "Games played by Charlie Cooper in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  22. ↑ "Games played by Charlie Cooper in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
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