Mark Cooper

Born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, Cooper's football career started in 1987, where he first appeared on the books of Bristol City as a trainee, but never made any first team appearances for the club. After two seasons with the Robins, Cooper moved on to Exeter City, managed by his father, in October 1989. He played 50 games and scored 12 goals for the south-western club, and during his time with The Grecians, Mark went on loan to Southend United, where he only made 5 appearances. In September 1991, Cooper joined Birmingham City. He played a total of 39 games, and scored 4 goals for the Midlands club. Cooper next signed for London club Fulham for a £40,000 fee. After only 14 games for the club, and a brief loan spell with Huddersfield Town in 1993, he moved on to Wycombe Wanderers, before returning for a second spell with Exeter City in February 1994. Two seasons later Cooper went north to Hartlepool United, where he made 31 appearances and scored 9 goals. His third and final loan spell was with Macclesfield Town in September 1997, where he spent two months and made just 8 appearances, scoring twice. In December 1997, Cooper joined Leyton Orient on a non-contract basis, before moving on to Rushden & Diamonds. After two years with the club, Cooper moved on to Hednesford Town. Cooper then moved on to Forest Green Rovers, where he was club captain and named Supporters' Player of the Year. This was his final team before joining Tamworth as a player in May 2002.

At the start of the 2003–04 season Cooper was appointed player/assistant manager at Tamworth and moved up to manager following the departure of Darron Gee for the 2004–05 season. During his time as Tamworth manager, Cooper managed to get them into the third round of the FA Cup in two consecutive seasons. The first time they played against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium and they managed to force a replay at their own ground, where the game was decided on penalties. The following season they played against Norwich City and lost 4–1. Tamworth's league form did not match their cup exploits, however. In the 2005–06 season Tamworth finished second-bottom of the Conference, and only survived when Canvey Island resigned from the league. The following season went little better, and on 24 January 2007, he left Tamworth by mutual consent, with the club bottom of the Conference table. On 16 May 2007, Cooper was appointed manager of Kettering Town. He had a successful first season with the Poppies, winning the Conference North title with a margin of 17 points. In the 2008–09 season, he guided Kettering to the FA Cup fourth round, a joint record for the furthest the club have been in the competition, where they faced Premier League team Fulham. He also guided the Poppies to eight place in the Conference National, completing a successful return to that division. After days of speculation, on 13 November 2009, Cooper agreed in principle to a three-and-a-half-year contract to become…

He is the son of former Leeds United and England full-back Terry Cooper. Mark's son, Charlie, also became a footballer.

Manager

Kettering Town

Conference North: 2007–08 Darlington

FA Trophy: 2010–11 Forest Green Rovers

National League play-offs: 2017 Yeovil Town

National League South: 2023–24 Individual

League One Manager of the Month: November 2014 National League South Manager of the Month: October 2023 National League South Manager of the Season: 2023–24