Steve Cooper (football manager)

Steve Cooper (born 10 December 1979) is a Welsh professional football manager and former player. He is the head coach of Championship club Swansea City.

Steve Cooper
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-12-10) 10 December 1979
Place of birth Pontypridd, Wales
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Swansea City (head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Wrexham 0 (0)
1999 The New Saints 4 (1)
2000 Rhyl 4 (0)
2000–2002 Bangor City 57 (3)
2003 Porthmadog
Teams managed
1998–2008 Wrexham youth
2008–2013 Liverpool youth
2014–2015 England U16
2015–2019 England U17
2019– Swansea City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Cooper began his coaching career at Wrexham's academy while playing as a defender in the Welsh football leagues. He moved to Liverpool in 2008, and was appointed manager of their academy in 2011. Cooper joined the England youth set-up in 2014, initially coaching the U16s, before winning the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup with the U17s. He became head coach of Swansea City in 2019.

Early life

Cooper was born on 10 December 1979 in Pontypridd, Wales.[1] He is the son of Welsh former football referee Keith Cooper.[2] As a youngster, Cooper played football in the Rhondda leagues and was a Liverpool supporter.[2][3]

Playing career

In the late 1990s, Cooper joined Wrexham but did not make an appearance for the club.[4] He was signed by manager Brian Flynn, who suggested Cooper pursue a coaching career instead of playing professionally.[4] Cooper later played for The New Saints, Rhyl, Bangor City, and Porthmadog in the Welsh football leagues.[5] He featured for Bangor City in the UEFA Cup against FK Sartid Smederevo in 2002.[6]

Managerial career

Early coaching

While a player, Cooper studied for his coaching badges and began coaching at Wrexham's academy.[7] At the age of 27, Cooper obtained his UEFA Pro Licence, becoming one of the youngest coaches to achieve the qualification.[8][9]

After several years coaching at Wrexham's academy, Cooper became the club's head of youth development.[10] On 3 September 2008, Cooper was appointed as a youth coach at Liverpool, initially taking charge of the under-12s.[11] On 18 July 2011, he was named manager of Liverpool's academy.[12] Cooper coached the under-18s for the 2012–13 season, leading them to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup, where they lost to Chelsea.[13] While at Liverpool, Cooper oversaw the development of such players as Raheem Sterling, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Ben Woodburn.[14] In 2013, Cooper joined the FA as a youth coach educator and also taught on the FA Wales A Licence course.[14][15]

England youth

On 13 October 2014, Cooper was appointed as manager of the England national under-16 team.[9] The following year, he took charge of the under-17s, coaching players such as Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden, and Callum Hudson-Odoi.[14] Cooper led his side to the final of the 2017 UEFA European U17 Championship, where they lost to Spain 4–1 on penalties following a 2–2 draw.[16] Cooper's U17s then won the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup in October 2017, beating Brazil 3–1 in the semi-final and Spain 5–2 in the final.[17][18]

The following year, Cooper's side reached the semi-finals of the 2018 UEFA European U17 Championship, where they lost to Netherlands on penalties.[19] They did not qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2019 UEFA European U17 Championship, despite beating Sweden 3–1 in their final group game.[20] During his time at England, Cooper oversaw a specialised coaching model which included in-possession and out-of-possession coaches.[21] He was also responsible for the coaching programme and curriculum for the under-15s.[21] On training young players, Cooper said, "Sometimes I will talk and tell the players my thoughts, but most of the time I facilitate... that’s how players learn, as a modern player. The days are gone, for me, where everything is the coach telling the player, that's finished."[21]

Swansea City

Cooper was appointed head coach of Championship club Swansea City on 13 June 2019 on a three-year contract.[22] His first match was a 2–1 win against Hull City at the Liberty Stadium, with goals from Borja Bastón and Mike van der Hoorn.[23] Cooper was named the EFL's Championship Manager of the Month for August after Swansea's unbeaten start to the season saw them move top of the league, with 16 points from 18.[24] This was Swansea's best start to a season in 41 years.[25]

During the January transfer window, Cooper signed Rhian Brewster, Marc Guehi, and Conor Gallagher (all of whom Cooper had coached in the England set-up) on loan from Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.[26] Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent pandemic, the Championship season was suspended indefinitely, with Swansea in 11th place and three points from the play-offs.[27] The season restarted on 20 June.[28] On the final day of the season, Swansea beat Reading 4–1 to finish sixth, moving into the play-offs ahead of Nottingham Forest on goal difference.[29] They were later defeated by Brentford 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-final.[30]

Style of coaching
We want to play with purpose, dominate possession, play forward, and get the ball back as quick as we can.

—Cooper on his preferred style of play, 25 October 2017.[31]

Cooper likes his teams to play with "good organisation and structure".[32] He prefers his teams to control the game by being brave on the ball and confident when passing.[18] Cooper coaches his teams to have tactical discipline; defensively, he prefers his players to regain possession through composure and aggression.[33]

Cooper cites former Barcelona B coach José Segura as his main influence; the pair worked together at Liverpool's academy.[32] Tactically, Cooper likes to deploy a 4–2–3–1 with two holding midfielders and attacking wing-backs.[34] He has also used a 5–3–2 or 3–5–2 formation to ensure greater defensive stability and more flexibility in attack.[35]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 30 January 2021
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
PWDLWin %
England U16 13 October 2014 28 July 2015 8 5 1 2 062.5 [9][36][37]
England U17 28 July 2015 13 June 2019 66 46 7 13 069.7 [36][22][37]
Swansea City 13 June 2019 Present 81 37 24 20 045.7 [38]
Total 155 88 32 35 056.8

Honours

Manager

England U17

Individual

References
  1. "Football: Hopkinstown-born Cooper appointed Liverpool Academy manager". walesonline. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  2. Edwards, Dave (9 October 2008). "Football: Rhondda coach joins the Reds' Anfield set-up". walesonline. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  3. Mitchelmore, Ian (25 October 2019). "The support Swansea City boss Steve Cooper will have from Cardiff City-supporting father in South Wales derby". Wales Online. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  4. Vincent, Gareth (26 July 2020). "Steve Cooper: Swansea City hope coach with a big future can inspire play-off glory". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  5. "Steve Cooper". www.welsh-premier.com. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  6. "UEFA Europa League 2002/03 - History - Bangor-Smederevo – UEFA.com". Uefa.com. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  7. "In Profile: Steve Cooper". Swansea City. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  8. "England Under-17s: Six things you didn't know about World Cup winners". BBC Sport. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  9. "Steve Cooper appointed as England U16s head coach". The Football Association. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  10. "Former Wrexham coach Steve Cooper relishing Liverpool FC role". North Wales Post. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  11. "Steve Cooper leaves Wrexham for Liverpool FC Academy". North Wales Daily Post. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  12. "'I'm honoured to take new role'". Liverpool FC. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  13. "Kop Kids: Steve Cooper pays tribute to Liverpool under-18s after FA Youth Cup exit". Liverpool Echo. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  14. "Swansea City make Steve Cooper a leading contender for manager role". BBC Sport. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  15. Clarke, Tomos (11 June 2019). "The impressive Steve Cooper presentation, his footballing identity and the Liverpool moment that changed everything". Wales Online. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  16. "Young Lions beaten on penalties in UEFA Euro U17 Championship final". TheFA.com. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  17. "Under-17 World Cup semi-final: Brazil 1–3 England". BBC Sport. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  18. "England U17s Head Coach Steve Cooper Reflects on Winning the World Cup in India". TheFA.com. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  19. "England knocked out of U17 Euro semi-final by Netherlands after penalty shootout". TheFA.com. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  20. "Young Lions win final group game of U17 Euros, but miss out on a quarter final spot". TheFA.com. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  21. "FIFA Technical Report FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  22. "England Under-17 coach Steve Cooper named Swansea City boss". BBC Sport. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  23. "Swansea City 2–1 Hull City". BBC Sport. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  24. "Sky Bet Championship: Player and Manager of the Month August winners". EFL. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  25. "Steve Cooper: That was our best performance yet". Swansea City. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  26. "Conor Gallagher: Swansea City sign Chelsea midfielder on loan". BBC Sport. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  27. "UEFA make significant 2019/20 season announcement and how it affects Cardiff City, Swansea City, Leeds United and others". Wales Online. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  28. "Championship season set to restart on 20 June as coronavirus lockdown eases". BBC Sport. 31 May 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  29. Pritchard, Dafydd (22 July 2020). "Reading 1–4 Swansea". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  30. Doyle, Paul (30 July 2020). "Brentford v Swansea: Championship play-off semi-final, second leg – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  31. "FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017: England coach Steve Cooper 'proud and satisfied' to make a statement". First Post. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  32. "England coach Steve Cooper sees hope in painfully familiar defeat to Spain". The Guardian. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  33. "England's golden age". UEFA.com. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  34. "What we have learnt so far about Steve Cooper at Swansea City – a tactical analysis". Wales Online. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  35. Llewelyn, Guto (18 July 2020). "The Swansea City tactical switch which has worked and why fans can look ahead with pride and optimism". Wales Online. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  36. "Four new interim England national coaches appointed". The Football Association. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  37. "Results Archive". The Football Association. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  38. "Managers: Steve Cooper". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  39. Shamoon Hafez (17 January 2019). "England's U17 World Cup winners – where are they now?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
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