Liam David Ian Cooper (born 30 August 1991) is a 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 and captains club Blackburn Rovers and the Scotland national team. Cooper came through the youth academy at Hull City before making his debut with the first team at the age of 16. He spent time on loan at

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

and Huddersfield Town, before moving to

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in 2012. He won promotion to League One with the Spireites in 2014 before joining Leeds United later that year. He has played over 200 games for the Yorkshire club, captaining them to promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in 2020. Cooper made his senior debut for Scotland national team in 2019, having previously played for the under-17s and under-19s during his time at Hull City. He represented the side at

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

and

Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football cha ...

Early and personal life

Cooper was born in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

and attended Malet Lambert school. His paternal grandfather John hailed from Bo'ness in Scotland. His father David and brother Joe work on the

Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

boats on the

Humber Estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the ...

. Growing up, his father was a West Ham United fan and would take him to games, while the rest of his family were Hull City supporters. Liam, however, supported Leeds United. In March 2020, Cooper opened his own Football Academy for youngsters aged 4–14.

Club career

Hull City

Cooper joined his hometown club Hull City in 2002 at under-12 level. He was in the youth team that won the Football League Youth Alliance Cup Final against

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

3–0, scoring the opening goal but later being sent off for a deliberate handball. During the 2007–08 season, he was given the number 37 shirt but failed to make any appearances as the Tigers went on to win promotion to the

for the first time in their history. He made his debut as 16-year-old for the club against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

in the League Cup on 26 August 2008 and featured as an unused substitute in their

defeat to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

four days later after signing his first professional contract. A year later, he would make his first Premier League start on 26 September 2009 at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

in a 6–1 defeat to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Over the following three years, Cooper would find his opportunities limited at Hull and spent brief periods out on loan at

and Huddersfield Town in 2011. He briefly returned to the first team under

Nick Barmby Nicholas Jon Barmby (born 11 February 1974) is an English football coach and former professional player. As a player, he played as a midfielder spending nearly his entire career in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough, Evert ...

to form a solid partnership with

James Chester James Grant Chester (born 23 January 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and is a free agent. Chester began his career with Manchester United but made only one appearance for the club. He had spells on loan at Peter ...

in March 2012 for the rest of the season following an injury to

Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...

. When Barmby departed for

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...

in the summer of 2012, he was replaced by the new manager's son

Alex Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

Chesterfield

Cooper joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

in November 2012. He made his debut in a 6–1 win over

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, and scored on his league debut two weeks later in a 2–1 victory over

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

. The

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season was Cooper's first year of playing regular professional football, making 31 appearances in all competitions as the Spireites narrowly missed out on a play–off spot. The 2013–14 would prove to be a memorable campaign for both Cooper and Chesterfield under manager Paul Cook. The club reached the

2014 Football League Trophy Final The 2014 Football League Trophy Final was the 31st final of the domestic cup involving League One and League Two teams. The final took place at Wembley Stadium in London on 30 March 2014 and saw Peterborough United beat Chesterfield 3–1, with ...

and played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, but ultimately lost 3–1 to Peterborough United in front of more than 35,000 fans. In the league, Cooper formed a formidable partnership with

Ian Evatt Ian Ross Evatt (born 19 November 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Bolton Wanderers. Evatt began his career as a central midfielder, but was later converted to a central defender. ...

as the team won the division and were promoted to League One. At the end of the season, Cooper was named in the

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

along with three other Chesterfield players.

Leeds United

Early years and captaincy

Cooper came to the attention of Leeds United after impressing Sporting Director Nicola Salerno in a 2–2 preseason draw at the b2net Stadium in the summer of 2014. After weeks of negotiations, Leeds agreed a deal for £600,000 plus add-ons relating to appearances, a future sale and promotion; with Cooper joining the club on 13 August. (After winning promotion to the

in 2020, the Spireites received an additional £150,000 from the sale.) He made his debut three days later at home to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in a 1–0 win, before being made club captain by Neil Redfearn midway through his first season. He would struggle for consistency under a succession of managers, losing his starting place to Sol Bamba and later to Pontus Jansson, but would still go on to make over 100 appearances during his first four seasons with the club. During a period of 30 games between 2017 and 2018, Cooper was sent off three times and received another six game ban for a stamp on

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

defender Reece Oxford. His propensity to be a liability in games earned him the disparaging nickname 'League One Liam' among Leeds fans at the time, but Cooper remained a highly respected captain amongst his teammates. He kept hold of the captaincy during Thomas Christiansen and Paul Heckingbottom's time as manager in the 2017–18 campaign, who would be his 7th and 8th manager respectively at the club in less than four years.

Bielsa and promotion

Cooper retained the captaincy after the shock appointment of the world renowned Marcelo Bielsa as Head Coach in the summer of 2018. In Bielsa's first game, he scored the third goal in a comprehensive 3–1 victory over promotion favourites

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, as Leeds ascended to the top of the Championship by Christmas. Leeds would eventually lose out on automatic promotion to Norwich City and Sheffield United as their form dipped in the second half of the 2018–2019 campaign, before losing 4–3 on aggregate to Derby County in the play-offs. In spite of a disappointing end to a season that had long looked so promising, Cooper was widely perceived to be one of the most improved players in the team under the new head coach, and was included in the EFL Championship Team of the Season, EFL Team of the Season, as well at the PFA's Championship Team of the Season with teammates Pontus Jansson and Pablo Hernández. The 2019–2020 marked Leeds' centenary year and Cooper's sixth season with the club. He would sign a new five year deal with the club in September, and would be present at

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 were held on 23 September 2019 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. The ceremony was attended by some of the most well known former players and managers such as Marco Van Basten, Marcel Desailly, Gianlucca Z ...

to collect the

FIFA Fair Play Award The FIFA Fair Play Award is a FIFA recognition of exemplary behaviour that promotes the spirit of fair play and compassion in :association football around the world. First awarded in 1987, it has been presented to individuals (including posthu ...

on behalf of Bielsa and the Leeds United team for allowing

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

to score an uncontested goal in the previous season. On the pitch, the team's nine–point lead at Christmas in the automatic promotion zone was completely eroded by the beginning of February after a run of four defeats in five games. With questions again being asked of Leeds' ability to maintain the form over the course of a full season, Cooper would score a crucial equaliser in a 1–1 draw in the following game against promotion rivals

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. It would later transpire that Cooper's son had been in hospital for three days prior to the game and there were doubts over whether he would play at all. The result proved to be a catalyst for the Yorkshire club's season, as they went on to win their next five games with Cooper being part of a defence that would also keep five clean sheets, taking the team back to the summit of the table and reestablishing a seven–point lead in the automatic promotion places. The momentum building around the club with only nine games remaining would be halted six days later when the season was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The season would resume behind closed doors three months later in June, with Leeds' five match winning run coming to an immediate end with a 2–0 defeat to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. Leeds would only drop two further points from the remaining eight games, as Leeds secured promotion to the

on 17 July after West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town beat

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

2–1, and won the Championship title the following day after Brentford failed to beat Stoke City. Cooper became the first Leeds United captain to win promotion since

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

in 1990 and lifted the Championship title on 22 July after a 4–0 win over

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

on the final day of the season, immortalising himself in the club's history. He would also retain his place in the

Premier League

Cooper missed Leeds' first Premier League game for 16 years in a 4–3 away defeat to

on the opening day of the season after picking up an injury. In the following match, he made his first Premier League start since September 2009 in a 4–3 win over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. The period between stands at 10 years, 359 days was a league record for the greatest length of time between starts. The following game against Sheffield United also marked his 200th appearance with the club and the first player to reach that number of games since Luciano Becchio in 2012. Cooper joins a select group of just 70 players that have made over 200 appearances for the club, including current teammate Stuart Dallas who also hit the milestone later in that season.

Return to the Championship

On 6 August 2023, Cooper scored the team's first goal on the opening day of Leeds' 2023–24 Championship league campaign, a 2–2 home draw with

, injuring his knee in the process, which kept him out of the team until his 20 September return as a second-half substitute against Hull City.

International career

Cooper was eligible to represent

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, having been born in

, and Scotland through his paternal grandfather who was born in Bo'ness,

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

. During his time in the youth team at Hull City, he chose to represent Scotland and made his debut at under-17 level in March 2008, before going on to play for the under-19s in 2009. Cooper received his first call-up to the senior

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

squad on 10 March 2016 for a friendly against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, but he would have to wait for more than three years to make his debut in a 2–1 defeat to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

on 6 September 2019. He began to feature frequently for Scotland in 2020 and played 120 minutes against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

play-off semi final, which Scotland won 5–3 on penalties after a 0–0 draw. A muscle injury meant that he would miss the final against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, which Scotland again won on penalties to qualify for Euro 2020 – their first major tournament since France 98. Cooper started the first game of the tournament against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

, a 2–0 defeat for Scotland.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Chesterfield *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

: 2013–14 *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

runner-up: 2013–14 Leeds United *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

: 2019–20 Individual *

: 2013–14 League Two, 2018–19 Championship,, 2019–20 Championship * EFL Team of the Season: 2018–19

References

External links

Liam Cooper profile
at Leeds United website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Liam 1991 births Living people Footballers from Kingston upon Hull English men's footballers Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders Scotland men's under-17 international footballers Hull City A.F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players UEFA Euro 2020 players UEFA Euro 2024 players English people of Scottish descent