Jack Cooper (Australian rules footballer)
| Jack Cooper | |||
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| Personal information | |||
| Full name | John Thomas Cooper | ||
| Date of birth | 21 February 1889 | ||
| Place of birth | Fitzroy North, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 20 September 1917 (aged 28) | ||
| Place of death | Polygon Wood, Belgium | ||
| Original team(s) | North Fitzroy Juniors | ||
| Debut |
Round 1, 1907, Fitzroy vs. Collingwood, at Victoria Park |
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| Height / weight | 178cm / 78 kg | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1907–1915 | Fitzroy | 136 (8) | |
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1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1915.
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| Career highlights | |||
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| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
John Thomas "Jack" Cooper (21 February 1889 – 20 September 1917) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
He died in action, whilst serving in the First AIF, during the Battle of Passchendaele.
Jack Cooper was the son of Fred and Florence Cooper. He was born in Fitzroy North on 21 February 1889, and he attended the Alfred Crescent State School in Fitzroy North. In his youth he was a fine cricketer as well as a highly talented footballer, and went on to be a regular player with the Fitzroy Footballers Cricket Club.
He worked for the company of Fitzroy Football Club's President, D.J. "Don" Chandler, as a storeman.
He and his wife, Margaret Malcolm Cooper, née Fletcher, resided at 38 York Street, Fitzroy North, and had one daughter, Margaret Isabel "Maggie" Cooper (1908–?), who became a teacher.
A somewhat thick-set man at 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) and 12 st 4 lb (78 kg), Cooper was a champion half-back. Recruited from the local team North Fitzroy Juniors, he played his first senior VFL game for the Fitzroy Football Club against Collingwood on 27 April 1907 at Victoria Park. In his first season, he played 11 matches and scored 1 goal.
In 1912, after he had been appointed captain of the Fitzroy senior team,a contemporary report spoke of the tough, speedy, skilful, and tenacious Cooper as follows:
It would be difficult to select a back man to beat him, although he is rather on the small side. He makes up for his lack of inches with tenacity and pluck.
He sticks to his man all day with a stubbornness commendable to fighter or footballer. He has great dash – the quality of being able to get to the ball in the lead, which all true backmen must have – and he can handle the ball when he reaches it. Handling a football when running is a fine art. The finished player nowadays does not grab the ball with both hands when he reaches it. He scoops it up, as it were, with one hand, as he continues his run.
Anybody can pick up a football when he has plenty of time to seize it, but the crack player must be able to pick up the ball without relaxing his speed. Cooper is an expert at handling the ball but, above all, he is a battler.
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