Neale Cooper

Neale James Cooper (24 November 1963 – 28 May 2018) was a Scottish football player and coach. He was born in Darjeeling, India to Scottish parents. He was raised in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Neale Cooper

Personal information
Full name	Neale James Cooper[1]
Date of birth	(1963-11-24)24 November 1963[1]
Place of birth	Darjeeling,[1] West Bengal, India
Date of death	28 May 2018(2018-05-28) (aged 54)[1]
Place of death	Aberdeen,[1] Scotland
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1978–1979	King Street
1979–1980	Aberdeen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1986	Aberdeen	133	(6)
1986–1988	Aston Villa	20	(0)
1988–1990	Rangers	17	(1)
1990–1991	Reading	7	(0)
1991-1996	Dunfermline Athletic	103	(3)
1996–1996	Ross County	5	(0)
Total		285	(10)
International career
1981–1985	Scotland U21[3]	13	(0)
1983	Scotland U19
Managerial career
1996–2002	Ross County
2003–2005	Hartlepool United
2005	Gillingham
2008–2011	Peterhead
2011–2012	Hartlepool United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cooper played as a midfielder during the 1980s and 1990s, mainly for the Aberdeen team managed by Alex Ferguson. He later played for Aston Villa, Rangers, Reading, Dunfermline Athletic and Ross County.

Cooper then became a coach, and worked as a manager in England with Hartlepool United and Gillingham, and in Scotland with Ross County and Peterhead.^[4]

On 28 May 2018 it was reported that Cooper was in a critical condition after being found collapsed in the stairwell of flats in Aberdeen.^[5] He died later that day of suspected cardiac arrest, aged 54.^[5]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aberdeen	1978-79	Scottish Premier Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	1979-80		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	1980-81		6	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	-	-	8	0
	1981-82		27	3	5	1	8	1	6	0	-	-	46	5
	1982-83		31	2	5	1	7	0	9	0	-	-	52	3
	1983-84		26	0	6	1	8	0	9	0	-	-	49	1
	1984-85		20	1	5	0	0	0	2	0	-	-	27	1
	1985-86		23	0	5	0	4	0	6	0	-	-	38	0
	Total		133	6	27	3	27	1	33	0	-	-	220	10
Aston Villa	1986-87	First Division	13	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	15	1
	1987-88	Second Division	7	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	7	0
	1988-89	First Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	0
	Total		20	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	22	1
Rangers	1988-89	Scottish Premier Division	14	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	-	-	17	1
	1989-90		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	3	0
	Total		17	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	-	-	20	1
Reading	1991-92	Third Division	7	0	0	0	2	0	-	-	-	-	9	0
	Total		7	0	0	0	2	0	-	-	-	-	9	0
Dunfermline Athletic	1991-92	Scottish Premier Division	21	0	2	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	23	0
	1992-93	Scottish First Division	33	1	0	0	2	0	-	-	-	-	35	1
	1993-94		30	2	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	30	2
	1994-95		15	0	1	0	2	0	-	-	-	-	18	0
	1995-96		4	0	0	0	1	0	-	-	1	0	6	0
	Total		103	3	3	0	5	0	-	-	1	0	112	3
Ross County	1996-97	Scottish Third Division	4	0	0	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	5	0
	1997-98		1	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	1	0
	1998-99		0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	0	0
	Total		5	0	0	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	6	0
Career total			285	10	34	4	36	1	33	0	1	0	389	15

Managerial statistics

As of 24 October 2012^[11]

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Ross County	1 July 1996	11 November 2002	299	130	89	80	043.48
Hartlepool United	26 June 2003	4 May 2005	110	48	26	36	043.64
Gillingham	21 May 2005	15 November 2005	22	7	5	10	031.82
Peterhead	10 January 2008	22 March 2011	143	50	39	54	034.97
Hartlepool United	28 December 2011	24 October 2012	40	7	14	19	017.50
Total			614	242	173	199	039.41

Honours

Player

Aberdeen

• Scottish Premier Division: 1983–84, 1984–85^[12]
• Scottish Cup: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86^[12]
• Scottish League Cup: 1985–86^[12]
• European Cup Winners Cup: 1983^[12]
• European Super Cup: 1983^[12]

Rangers

• Scottish League Cup: 1988–89

Dunfermline Athletic

• Scottish First Division: 1996^[13]

Manager

Ross County

• Scottish Third Division: 1998–99^[12]
• Scottish Second Division promotion: 1999–2000^[12]

Individual

• Football League One Manager of the Month (at Hartlepool): January 2005^[14]