Neale Cooper
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Neale James Cooper | ||
| Date of birth | 24 November 1963 | ||
| Place of birth | Darjeeling, India | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1978–1979 | King Street | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1979–1986 | Aberdeen | 132 | (6) |
| 1986–1988 | Aston Villa | 20 | (0) |
| 1988–1990 | Rangers | 17 | (1) |
| 1990–1991 | Aberdeen | 0 | (0) |
| 1991 | Reading | 7 | (0) |
| 1991–1996 | Dunfermline Athletic | 101 | (4) |
| 1996–1998 | Ross County | 5 | (0) |
| Total | 282 | (11) | |
| National team | |||
| 1981–1985 | Scotland U21 | 13 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1996–2002 | Ross County | ||
| 2003–2005 | Hartlepool United | ||
| 2005 | Gillingham | ||
| 2008–2011 | Peterhead | ||
| 2011–2012 | Hartlepool United | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Neale James Cooper (born 24 November 1963) is a Scottish football player and coach. He has previously worked as a manager in England with Hartlepool United and Gillingham and in Scotland with Ross County and Peterhead.
Born in Darjeeling, India, Cooper attended Airyhall Primary School and Hazlehead Academy in Aberdeen and began his senior career with Aberdeen, the team he'd supported as a boy. A first-team regular from the beginning of the 1981–82 season, he starred in midfield for the Dons for five seasons in which he won two Premier Division championships, four Scottish Cups, one League Cup, the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup under the management of Alex Ferguson. Having initially moved into a flat in Aberdeen as a young player, Cooper was 'persuaded' by Ferguson to return to his mother's home to help ensure that Cooper was shielded from the obvious temptations arising from youthful independence.
In the summer of 1986, he signed for Aston Villa. Cooper made only twenty league appearances in the next two years, partly because of injuries. In the 1988–89 season, he transferred to Rangers but injuries restricted him to only seventeen league appearances. Cooper returned to Aberdeen in 1990, but he was unable to make a first team appearance due to ongoing fitness issues.
In 1991, Cooper signed for Reading, where he linked up with his former Aberdeen teammate Mark McGhee. Cooper made seven league appearances in a brief stint with Reading, before he moved to Dunfermline Athletic. At Dunfermline he was able to play regularly, helping them win promotion in 1995/96. In 1996, he moved into management with Ross County.
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