Terry Cooper

Terry Cooper
Full name	Terence Cooper
Nationality	England
Caps (goals)	20 (0)
Rovers apps (goals)a	56 (0)
Position	Defender
Date of birth	12 July 1944 in Knottingley, West Yorkshire
Height	5 ft 9 in
Joined
7 August 1979 from Bristol City
Left
11 November 1981 to join Doncaster Rovers
Senior clubs	Teams managed
Leeds United Middlesbrough Bristol City Bristol Rovers Doncaster Rovers Bristol City	Bristol Rovers Bristol City Exeter City Birmingham City Exeter City
a League appearances and goals only Last updated by Gasheadsteve on 20/11/2012

Terry Cooper is one of twenty-two England internationals to have played for Rovers, earning 20 caps for his nation between 1969 and 1974. He signed as a Rovers player in August 1979 at the tail end of his career on the field, and was promoted to player-manager eight months later. He played a total of 56 league games for the Gas between 1979 and 1981 and is the only man to have played for and managed both Bristol Rovers and Bristol City.

Playing career

Club career

Yorkshireman Cooper's long club career started as an apprentice at Leeds United, signing his first professional contract with them in 1962 at the age of 17. He stayed with the Elland Road club for thirteen years, making 250 league appearances and scoring seven goals from the full-back position. All twenty of his England caps came while playing for Leeds, the last of which came under his former club manager Don Revie.

In 1975 he signed for Middlesbrough, where he stayed for three years and played 105 league games, scoring once. He joined Bristol City in 1978, playing just 11 times in the league before joining Rovers the following season. He teamed up with his former Leeds captain Billy Bremner at Doncaster Rovers in 1981, taking up a position as player-assistant manager under him for a year before rounding off his playing career back at Bristol City for his second spell there. In all he made 496 appearances in a 22-year Football League career and scored nine goals.

Club stats

N.B. only Bristol Rovers league appearances listed here

Season	Club	League
		Apps	Goals
1979–80	Bristol Rovers	25	0
1980–81	Bristol Rovers	26	0
1981–82	Bristol Rovers	5	0

International career

Terry made his debut for England on 12 March 1969 in a friendly against France at Wembley, playing alongside many of the 1966 World Cup-winning side. He went on to win 20 caps for his country and played in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

The majority of his international appearances came between 1969 and 1971, but he also played in one European Championship qualifier in 1974 against Portugal at Wembley after being recalled to the team by his former Leeds United manager Don Revie, three years after winning his previous cap. He lasted just 23 minutes into his final game however, being replaced by Colin Todd midway through the first half.

International appearances

N.B. England's score is always given first. (Source: englandstats.com)

Date	Opposition	Result	Venue	Competition
12 March 1969	France	5–0	Wembley	Friendly
7 May 1969	Wales	2–1	Wembley	Home Championship
10 May 1969	Scotland	4–1	Wembley	Home Championship
1 June 1969	Mexico	0–0	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City	Friendly
14 January 1970	The Netherlands	0–0	Wembley	Friendly
25 February 1970	Belgium	3–1	Parc Astrid, Brussels	Friendly
20 May 1970	Colombia	4–0	El Campín, Bogota	Friendly
24 May 1970	Ecuador	2–0	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito	Friendly
2 June 1970	Romania	1–0	Estádio Jalisco, Guadalajara	World Cup Finals
7 June 1970	Brazil	0–1	Estádio Jalisco, Guadalajara	World Cup Finals
11 June 1970	Czechoslovakia	1–0	Estádio Jalisco, Guadalajara	World Cup Finals
14 June 1970	West Germany	2–3	Estadio Nou Camp, León	World Cup Finals
25 November 1970	East Germany	3–1	Wembley	Friendly
12 May 1971	Malta	5–0	Wembley	Euro Champs Qualifier
15 May 1971	Northern Ireland	1–0	Windsor Park, Belfast	Home Championship
19 May 1971	Wales	0–0	Wembley	Home Championship
22 May 1971	Scotland	3–1	Wembley	Home Championship
13 October 1971	Switzerland	3–2	St. Jakob Park, Basle	Euro Champs Qualifier
9 November 1971	Switzerland	1–1	Wembley	Euro Champs Qualifier
20 November 1974	Portugal	0–0	Wembley	Euro Champs Qualifier

Managerial career

Terry's first taste of management came when he joined Bristol Rovers as player-manager in 1980, but his 18 months at the helm was not a success, leading Rovers to relegation from Division Two in his only full season in charge and was relieved of his duties in October 1981. Following this he had a brief stint as assistant manager of Doncaster Rovers before being made player-boss of Bristol City in 1982.

His six-year spell at Ashton Gate was far more successful than his time at Rovers, winning over 40% of his games in charge, and he followed this up with a similar record at Exeter City between 1988 and 1991. He ended his career with two years at Birmingham City followed by an 18-month-long return to Exeter.

Managerial stats

Last updated 25 October 2011 (sources Soccerbase, Bristol Rovers Football Club: The Definitive History 1883-2003)

Team	Nation	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Bristol Rovers	England	24 April 1980	19 October 1981	69	13	19	37	18.84
Bristol City	England	20 May 1982	16 March 1988	289	124	80	85	42.91
Exeter City	England	9 May 1988	1 August 1991	157	67	26	64	42.68
Birmingham City	England	9 August 1991	29 November 1993	125	45	33	47	36.00
Exeter City	England	24 January 1994	31 July 1995	69	14	16	39	20.29
Total				708	263	174	271	37.15

Record at Rovers

Season	Comp	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Pos	Round reached
1979–80	Division Two	2	0	0	2	1	4	-3	0	–
	Gloucestershire Cup	1	0	0	1	0	1				Runners-up
1980–81	Division Two	42	5	13	24	34	65	-31	28	22
	FA Cup	2	1	0	1	5	6				4th round
	League Cup	6	1	3	2	4	6				3rd round
	Gloucestershire Cup	1	0	0	1	0	1				Runners-up
1981–82	Division Three	10	4	2	4	14	15	-1	14	–
	League Cup	4	1	1	2	4	6				2nd round
	Gloucestershire Cup	1	1	0	0	1	0				Winners
Total	League	54	9	15	30	49	84	-35	42	–
	Cups	15	4	4	7	14	20
	All	69	13	19	37	63	104

Notes: