Davie Cooper

Clydebank (1974–77)

Davie's apprenticeship as a printer with the Noble family at their Almada Street offices came to an end when he reached 18. By that point, Cooper had almost no involvement in football activities outside of his work. 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 Cooper to join the club. Steedman (who was well aware of Cooper's capabilities) signed the youngster on 16 May 1974. Years later, Steedman admitted: "I raided the Bankies' club safe and took the silver from the gaming machines in the social club and transferred it into pound notes. I took £300 worth of beer-stained notes, drove to the printing works in Hamilton where he worked and convinced him to sign for the club. In forty years of football, it was the best thing I ever did." At this point, under the management of Bill Munro, Clydebank were an ambitious outfit with players such as Jimmy Lumsden, Gregor Abel, Jim Fallon and Peter Kane in their ranks, albeit with limited training facilities and an ash training pitch. When describing Cooper's first spell with Clydebank, Fallon stated: "It definitely toughened him up, because these were the days where defenders were allowed to tackle really hard and you had to be a resilient character to keep charging down the wing in these circumstances." Cooper made his debut for Clydebank against Airdrieonians in the…

Cooper made his international debut for Scotland under-21s in the 1976–77 season in a 0–0 draw versus the Czech Republic in Plzeň. He won another three caps that season, versus Wales, Switzerland and England. His full international debut for Scotland came on 12 September 1979, in a 1–1 draw with Peru at Hampden Park. Cooper played for the national team again the following month in a 1–1 draw at home to Austria in the Euro 1980 qualifiers, but after that he wasn't capped again for over four years. Cooper returned to the national team on 28 February 1984, scoring against Wales in a 2–1 British Home Championship win, and he was on the scoresheet for Scotland again later in the year in a 6–1 friendly win over Yugoslavia.

Cooper became a regular in the Scotland team and prior to the 1986 World Cup, playing in 11 consecutive games. A key match was the last qualification group match, against Wales in September 1985, in which Scotland needed at least a draw to keep their qualification hopes alive. 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. Scotland manager Jock Stein replaced Gordon Strachan with Cooper in the 61st minute. With nine minutes remaining, Scotland were awarded a penalty kick that Cooper scored. As the game ended in a 1–1 draw, the Scotland team and around 12,000 travelling fans celebrated their survival in the…

Cooper has been regarded by many as one of the greatest players in Scottish football history. A winger, he became a notoriously difficult opponent due to his creative and elegant playing style, with strength and manipulation of the ball allowing him to ease past opposition players. Former teammate Mark Walters said in an interview on Cooper: "He could just glide past players, drop a shoulder and go. He used to manipulate the ball. Watching him made me a better player". Despite not being blessed with pace, his close ball control, strength and "dip of the shoulder" allowed him to create many assists and score goals throughout his career. Cooper was particularly gifted on his left foot, allowing him to deliver precise crosses and set pieces. Discussing Cooper's left footed ability, former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh said: "He could have played a violin with it. He didn't need a right foot. He was so perfectly balanced, so technically gifted on his left, that he could do anything. There were no limitations. He could beat people any way; right, left, double back and beat them again". At Cooper's testimonial dinner, in reference to his left-footed ability, friend and teammate Ally McCoist gifted him a mannequin right leg in Rangers colours, to which Cooper replied "the one thing I never had".

David Cooper was born in Hamilton, Scotland, on 25 February 1956 to John (1918–1998) and Jean Cooper (née Pollock) (1926–2012). His 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. Along with his elder brother John, Cooper was a Rangers supporter in his youth and regularly attended matches at Ibrox with his father, later travelling by himself on local supporters buses to Glasgow.

He initially attended Beckford Street Primary in Hamilton before moving on to Udston Primary. Cooper was soon made captain of the Udston primary team and played as an inside forward (roughly equivalent to a modern-day deep-lying striker). As an Udston Primary player, Cooper and his team won the Shinwell Cup youth tournament, beating Low Waters Primary 4–2 in the final at Douglas Park, the former home of Hamilton Academical. Following his primary education, Cooper attended St. John's Grammar School (now Hamilton Grammar School). Initially, Cooper was dissatisfied with his new surroundings, especially due to St John's failure to organise a school football team until his third year. Bill and Rose MacKenzie, who were friends of Cooper's parents, decided to set up a new youth football team called Udston United. 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. Davie's older brother John, who was sixteen at the…