1. David Cooper was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a winger.
48 Facts About Davie Cooper
1. 2.
Davie Cooper's talents were noticed by numerous top-flight clubs both in Scotland and England.
3.
Davie Cooper chose to sign for Scottish Second Division side Clydebank in 1974, beginning his career as a professional footballer.
4.
Davie Cooper played over 150 times for the Steelmen and was part of the team that won the 1991 Scottish Cup Final against Dundee United.
5.
Davie Cooper represented the Scotland national team from 1979 to 1990, in which he was capped 22 times and scored 6 goals.
6.
Davie Cooper intended to retire as a player at the end of the 1995 season, however on 22 March 1995 he suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld whilst filming Shoot, a youth coaching television programme.
7.
Davie Cooper died the following day at the age of 39.
8.
An inductee of the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, Davie Cooper is regarded by many as having been one of Scottish football's greatest talents.
9.
David Davie Cooper was born in Hamilton, Scotland, on 25 February 1956 to John and Jean Davie Cooper.
10.
Davie Cooper's father was employed as a steel worker at the nearby Lanarkshire Steel Works, while his mother worked as a barmaid at the Lariat Hostelry in Hamilton.
11.
Davie Cooper initially attended Beckford Street Primary in Hamilton before moving on to Udston Primary.
12.
Davie Cooper was made captain of the Udston primary team and played as an inside forward.
13.
Bill and Rose MacKenzie, who were friends of Davie Cooper's parents, decided to set up a new youth football team called Udston United.
14.
Davie Cooper became one of the club's first players and, when not training or playing matches, helped promote the new club in the local community.
15.
Stuart Noble, one of the owners of Hamilton Avondale, contacted Clydebank director Jack Steedman, who quickly appeared in his car outside the Avondale offices with the hope of convincing Davie Cooper to join the club.
16.
Davie Cooper made his debut for Clydebank against Airdrieonians in the Scottish League Cup.
17.
Davie Cooper ended the season with 29 starts, 2 as a substitute, and scored 5 goals.
18.
Davie Cooper finished top of the Clydebank goalscoring list with 13 in the League, three of which were penalties.
19.
Davie Cooper played in all of Clydebank's 49 games that season, scoring 22 goals.
20.
Derek Parlane opened the scoring in the 6th minute, however Davie Cooper equalised for Clydebank a minute later.
21.
Davie Cooper travelled with his father and elder brother to a meeting with Rangers executives including Wallace, Willie Waddell and Willie Thornton.
22.
At the age of 21, Davie Cooper joined up with Jock Wallace's side in the summer of 1977, along with new signings Bobby Russell and Gordon Smith.
23.
Davie Cooper scored twice in the match, including one directly from a corner kick.
24.
Davie Cooper appeared in fifty-two of the fifty-three matches Rangers played in his first year at the club and scored eight goals.
25.
On 4 August 1979, Davie Cooper scored a memorable solo goal against Celtic in the 1979 Drybrough Cup Final at Hampden.
26.
Davie Cooper was part of the starting line-up for the Scottish Cup final replay against Dundee United which Rangers won.
27.
Davie Cooper played in all but six league fixtures as Rangers attained third place.
28.
Davie Cooper finished his Rangers career with 75 goals in 540 appearances.
29.
Davie Cooper went on to play brilliantly at the highest level for another three years.
30.
Davie Cooper spent nearly five years with Motherwell, going on to play over 150 times for the Steelmen.
31.
Davie Cooper had scored his last goal in a Challenge Cup semi-final against Airdrie earlier that season, and his last appearance in a Clydebank jersey was in a reserve fixture at New Kilbowie on 21 February 1995 against Hamilton Academical.
32.
Davie Cooper won another three caps that season, versus Wales, Switzerland and England.
33.
Davie Cooper became a regular in the Scotland team and prior to the 1986 World Cup, playing in 11 consecutive games.
34.
Davie Cooper began the match on the bench and Scotland struggled early on, as Mark Hughes scored for Wales in the 13th minute and goalkeeper Jim Leighton struggled with vision after losing a contact lens.
35.
Davie Cooper was capped twice for Scotland as a Motherwell player, and the last of his 22 caps was earned on 16 May 1990 in a friendly against Egypt at Pittodrie.
36.
Davie Cooper has been regarded by many as one of the greatest players in Scottish football history.
37.
Davie Cooper was particularly gifted on his left foot, allowing him to deliver precise crosses and set pieces.
38.
Davie Cooper was so perfectly balanced, so technically gifted on his left, that he could do anything.
39.
Davie Cooper began dating Christine McMeekin in summer 1975 after meeting at an ice rink.
40.
Outside of football, Davie Cooper was a keen squash and tennis player and cited the Swedish tennis player Bjorn Borg as one of his heroes.
41.
Davie Cooper was often reluctant to speak to the press and rarely participated in interviews.
42.
Davie Cooper began presenting a coaching television series for youngsters called Shoot for Scottish Television, along with former Celtic, Arsenal, Aberdeen and Scotland player Charlie Nicholas and former Sheffield Wednesday player Tommy Craig.
43.
Davie Cooper collapsed suddenly on the morning of 22 March 1995 at a training pitch adjacent to Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld during a recording session for an episode.
44.
Davie Cooper was taken to Monklands General Hospital, where a CT Scan confirmed a subarachnoid haemorrhage.
45.
Davie Cooper was transferred to the Institute for Neurological Sciences at Glasgow's Southern General Hospital, where consultant neurosurgeon Professor Garth Cruickshank took charge of the case.
46.
The news of Davie Cooper's death was met with widespread sadness from across the country and the footballing world, much of which is still felt today.
47.
Davie Cooper is remembered as one of the most significant players in the histories of Clydebank, Rangers and Motherwell football clubs.
48.
Davie Cooper was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame in 2000, Clydebank's in 2008 and Motherwell's in 2020.