Jake Matthew Cooper (born 3 February 1995) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Millwall.

Club career

Early life and career

Cooper was born in

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

, Berkshire, and attended

The Forest School, Winnersh The Forest School is an all-boys secondary school and mixed sixth form with academy status, located in Winnersh, Berkshire, England. It is located on Robin Hood Lane, the B3030 road, next to Winnersh railway station. Since September 2012, th ...

. He joined the

Reading F.C. Reading Football Club ( ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is manag ...

Academy as a 14-year-old in 2009, going on to sign his first professional contract with the club in June 2013, on a contract going through to the end of the 2015–16 season. Cooper made his debut, for Reading in their 1–0 Championship victory over

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on 16 August 2014, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute for

Nick Blackman Nicholas Alexander Blackman (born 11 November 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Barbados national football team. He can also play as a winger. He last played for Maccabi Tel Aviv. Early life Blackman was bo ...

. He scored his first goals for Reading on 29 November, in a 2–1 win away to Norwich City. On 8 October 2015, Cooper extended his contract with the club until June 2018.

Millwall

On 19 January 2017, Cooper joined League One club Millwall on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season. Cooper signed a three-year contract for Millwall on 28 July 2017.

Personal life

Cooper's father is former Reading defender Alan Cooper, and his nephew Louie Holzman is also a product of the Reading youth system.

International career

Cooper has represented England at under-18, under-19 and

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

levels. His first call-up came in February 2013 for the under-18 game against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, in which he made his debut. Cooper earned his first England under-20 call-up in March 2016, making his debut against in a 2–1 defeat to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on 27 March.

Career statistics

Honours

Millwall * EFL League One play-offs:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Millwall F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Jake 1995 births Living people Footballers from Bracknell] English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Reading F.C. players Millwall F.C. players English Football League players England men's youth international footballers