Charlie Cooper (footballer)

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

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 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3]
Position(s) Central midfielder[4]
Club information
Current team
 Woking
Number 4
Youth career
2007–2015 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 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)
2017–2019 Forest Green Rovers 25 (1)
2018 → Newport County (loan) 9 (0)
2019 → Boreham Wood (loan) 5 (0)
2019–2020 FC Halifax Town 27 (1)
2020– Woking 18 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:22, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

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. In 2018–19, he spent time on loan at League Two club Newport County and Boreham Wood of the National League. Cooper subsequently made a move to FC Halifax Town, featuring thirty-one times, scoring once before joining fellow National League side, Woking ahead of the 2020–21 campaign.

Life and career

Early life and career

Cooper is the son of former footballer Mark Cooper[5] and grandson of England international Terry Cooper.[6] He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham,[7] while his father was a Hartlepool United player.[8] The family later moved to the Midlands, where Cooper attended Alderbrook School in Solihull.[5] He was noticed by representatives of Birmingham City when playing in a cup final, and joined their Academy in 2007.[5] He took up a scholarship with the club in July 2013.[9] Interviewed in early 2014, he assessed his strength as passing, and felt he needed to improve his heading.[5]

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."[10]

National League football

Cooper joined National League club Forest Green Rovers on a month's youth loan on 23 January 2016.[11] He was an unused substitute for four matches[12] before Birmingham recalled him.[13] He was a member of the Birmingham reserve team that lost the 2016 Birmingham Senior Cup final to National League North champions Solihull Moors.[14]

On 26 October of the following season, he was loaned to another National League club, this time York City.[15] 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.[16] He started four more matches, all in the league,[12] before returning to Birmingham after one month.[17]

On 9 December, Cooper rejoined Forest Green Rovers – who were by that time under his father's management – for another month.[18] After he made five appearances during the month, Birmingham allowed the loan to be extended to the end of the season.[19] 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.[12][20]

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,[21] and he signed a two-year contract with Forest Green on 15 June 2017.[20] He made his Football League debut on the opening day of the 2017–18 season, in the starting eleven for the League Two visit of Barnet to The New Lawn. 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.[22] Cooper scored his first senior goal on 19 August, contributing Forest Green's third goal with a "speculative strike" as his team came back from 2–0 and 3–1 down to beat Yeovil Town 4–3 and record their first win in the Football League.[23] He established himself as a regular in the midfield, until knee damage, diagnosed as hyperextension of his left knee and bruising to the bone, sustained following a tackle in a match against Coventry City in mid-October,[24] kept him out for six weeks. He returned to the side as a second-half substitute in an EFL Trophy match on 5 December, and then resumed his place in the starting eleven.[25][26]

Cooper joined Forest Green's League Two rivals Newport County on 22 June 2018 on loan for the 2018–19 season.[27] He made his Newport debut on the opening day of the season, as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 defeat at Mansfield Town.[28] He made 15 appearances in all competitions without scoring before his loan was ended early on 13 December.[29] In mid-March 2019, he went out on loan to National League club Boreham Wood, finishing the season with five appearances.[30][12]

FC Halifax Town

Forest Green took up their option to retain Cooper's services for the 2019–20 season,[31] but cancelled his contract by mutual consent in August. He had trained with Bury, but a potential contract fell through after the club was expelled from the EFL. On 12 September 2019, Cooper signed for National League club FC Halifax Town.[32]

Woking

On 5 September 2020, Cooper agreed to make the switch to fellow National League side, Woking on a one-year deal.[33]

Career statistics
As of match played 6 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City 2015–16[34] Championship000000—00
2016–17[35] Championship00—00—00
Total 000000—00
Forest Green Rovers (loan) 2015–16[12] National League00———00
York City (loan) 2016–17[12] National League50———50
Forest Green Rovers (loan) 2016–17[12] National League210——7[lower-alpha 1]0280
Forest Green Rovers 2017–18[26] League Two25110104[lower-alpha 2]0311
2018–19[36] League Two00———00
Total 4611010110591
Newport County (loan) 2018–19[36] League Two9000204[lower-alpha 2]0150
Boreham Wood (loan) 2018–19[12] National League50———50
FC Halifax Town 2019–20[12] National League27110—3[lower-alpha 3]0311
Woking 2020–21[12] National League18020—3[lower-alpha 4]1231
Career total 110240302111383
  1. Four appearances in FA Trophy, three in National League play-offs
  2. Appearances in EFL Trophy
  3. Two appearances in FA Trophy, one in National League play-offs
  4. Appearances in FA Trophy

Honours

Forest Green Rovers

References
  1. "EFL: Club retained and released lists published". English Football League. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  2. "Charlie Cooper: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  3. "Charlie Cooper". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  4. Draycott, Craig (11 March 2019). "Wood secure midfield coop". Boreham Wood F.C. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  5. "Blue kid on the block – Charlie Cooper". Birmingham City F.C. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 19 January 2014.
  6. Kendrick, Mat (9 December 2016). "Birmingham City youngster Charlie Cooper goes on loan with his dad Mark". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  7. "Charlie Cooper: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  8. "Charlie Cooper". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  9. "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.
  10. Lewis, Peter (6 May 2015). "Youngsters sign first pro deals". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  11. 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.
  12. "C. Cooper: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  13. 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.
  14. Dick, Brian (5 May 2016). "Birmingham Senior Cup final: Birmingham City U21s 1 Solihull Moors 2". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  15. "Signing alert: Birmingham City youngster Charlie Cooper joins York City on loan". The Press. York. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. "Charlie Cooper: Forest Green Rovers add Birmingham City midfielder on loan". BBC Sport. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  19. "Charlie Cooper: Birmingham City youngster extends loan with Forest Green Rovers". BBC Sport. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  20. "Charlie Cooper: Forest Green sign Birmingham City loanee on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  21. "Club makes decisions on young prospects". Birmingham City F.C. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  22. "Forest Green 2–2 Barnet: Debutants blow two-goal lead". Sky Sports. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  23. "League Two round-up: Forest Green get first win". Sky Sports. PA Sport. 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  24. Loveridge, Ashley (21 October 2017). "Charlie Cooper sidelined for minimum of six weeks following horror tackle at Coventry City". Cotswold Journal. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  25. "Cooper relieved to be back". Forest Green Rovers F.C. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  26. "Games played by Charlie Cooper in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  27. "Newport County: Exiles sign Forest Green Rovers midfielders Marsh-Brown and Cooper". BBC Sport. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  28. "Mansfield Town 3–0 Newport County". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  29. "Charlie Cooper returns to Forest Green Rovers". Newport County A.F.C. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  30. "Forest Green midfielder joins Boreham Wood on loan". Stroud News and Journal. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  31. "Forest Green publish released and retained list". Stroud News and Journal. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  32. Loveridge, Ashley (12 September 2019). "Former Forest Green midfielder Charlie Cooper joins FC Halifax Town". Stroud News and Journal. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  33. "Charlie Cooper signs for Woking". Woking F.C. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  34. "Games played by Charlie Cooper in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  35. "Games played by Charlie Cooper in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  36. "Games played by Charlie Cooper in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  37. Garry, Tom (14 May 2017). "Tranmere Rovers 1–3 Forest Green Rovers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
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