Playing career
Born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, Cooper's football career started in 1987, where he first appeared on the books of Bristol City as a trainee, but never made any first team appearances for the club. After two seasons with the Robins, Cooper moved on to Exeter City, managed by his father, in October 1989. He played 50 games and scored 12 goals for the south-western club, and during his time with The Grecians, Mark went on loan to Southend United, where he only made 5 appearances.
In September 1991, Cooper joined Birmingham City. He played a total of 39 games, and scored 4 goals for the Midlands club. Cooper next signed for London club Fulham for a £40,000 fee. After only 14 games for the club, and a brief loan spell with Huddersfield Town in 1993, he moved on to Wycombe Wanderers, before returning for a second spell with Exeter City in February 1994.
Two seasons later Cooper went north to Hartlepool United, where he made 31 appearances and scored 9 goals. His third and final loan spell was with Macclesfield Town in September 1997, where he spent two months and made just 8 appearances, scoring twice. In December 1997, Cooper joined Leyton Orient on a non-contract basis, before moving on to Rushden & Diamonds.
After two years with the club, Cooper moved on to Hednesford Town. Cooper then moved on to Forest Green Rovers, where he was club captain and named Supporters' Player of the Year. This was his final team before joining Tamworth as a player in May 2002.
Managerial career
At the start of the 2003–04 season Cooper was appointed player/assistant manager at Tamworth and moved up to manager following the departure of Darron Gee for the 2004–05 season. [3]
During his time as Tamworth manager, Cooper managed to get them into the third round of the FA Cup in two consecutive seasons. The first time they played against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium and they managed to force a replay at their own ground, where the game was decided on penalties. The following season they played against Norwich City and lost 4–1.
Tamworth's league form did not match their cup exploits, however. In the 2005–06 season Tamworth finished second-bottom of the Conference, and only survived when Canvey Island resigned from the league. The following season went little better, and on 24 January 2007, he left Tamworth by mutual consent, with the club bottom of the Conference table. [4]
On 16 May 2007, Cooper was appointed manager of Kettering Town. [5] He had a successful first season with the Poppies, winning the Conference North title with a margin of 17 points. In the 2008–09 season, he guided Kettering to the FA Cup fourth round, a joint record for the furthest the club have been in the competition, where they faced Premier League team Fulham. He also guided the Poppies to eight place in the Conference National, completing a successful return to that division.
After days of speculation, on 13 November 2009, Cooper agreed in principle to a three-and-a-half-year contract to become Darren Ferguson's successor as manager of Championship side Peterborough United. [6] He was appointed as manager the following day. [7] He left Kettering second in the table and on a twelve-game unbeaten run. The Poppies were also in the Second Round of the FA Cup, and had been handed a dream tie against Leeds United. Cooper managed his last game as a Poppy away at Cambridge United where his side won 2–0, Cooper was applauded off the pitch by the Kettering Town faithful and had tears running down his cheeks.
On 25 November, he made his first signing as Peterborough manager, signing Exodus Geohaghon from former club Kettering Town. On 19 December, Peterborough won their first game with Cooper in charge, a 2–1 home win against Watford. Later that month, they recovered from a 0–4 home deficit to Cardiff City to claim a 4–4 draw. Cooper was sacked just 13 games into his tenure on 1 February 2010 with only 1 win in those 13 games. [8]
Cooper was named Darlington manager on 29 June 2010, where he signed a two-year contract. [9] Chairman Raj Singh turned down official approaches from Lincoln City and York City for Cooper in October. [10] Cooper's first season with Darlington in 2010–11 was deemed a success. After a rocky start to the season the team recovered, going on a run of only one defeat in 20 league and cup matches from January 2011, eventually finishing in a creditable league position of 7th. Darlington under Cooper's guidance also reached the second round of the FA Cup, and beat Mansfield Town 1–0 at Wembley to win the 2011 FA Trophy Final. Following what the chairman described as "recent results ... closer to relegation form than promotion form", Cooper was dismissed as Darlington manager on 24 October 2011. [11]
On 4 January 2012, Cooper was appointed caretaker manager of Kettering Town, [12] but withdrew from the role after only one match citing the club's off-field issues. [13]
Cooper was appointed manager at AFC Telford United on 31 January 2013 after Andy Sinton was sacked. [14] After just five games in charge – one draw and four defeats – he was appointed assistant to new Swindon Town manager Kevin MacDonald. [15]
On 20 August 2013, he was appointed manager of Swindon Town, after taking over as assistant manager from when MacDonald resigned on 13 July 2013. [16] He led the club to 8th in his first season in charge during the 2013–14 Football League One campaign, and followed that up by qualifying for the 2014–15 League One play-offs the following season. After play-off semi-final success over Sheffield United, [17] he led the club out in the 2015 League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium but was denied promotion, losing 4–0 to Preston North End. [18] Later after play-off final defeat, he sold midfield duo Ben Gladwin and Massimo Luongo to Queens Park Rangers for undisclosed seven-figure transfer fees. [19]
On 17 October 2015, following a 2–0 defeat to Millwall, it was announced that he had parted company with Swindon Town. [20]
Cooper was appointed manager of League Two Notts County on 20 March 2016 on a short-term contract until the end of the season. He was set a points target which, if met, would bring a permanent deal. [21] He met the target but chose to leave the club.
Forest Green Rovers
After leaving Notts County, Cooper became manager of National League club Forest Green Rovers; when he joined, on 9 May, they had just reached the 2016 National League play-off final, although caretaker manager Scott Bartlett took charge for the final at Wembley with Cooper in an advisory role. [22] Despite losing that final to Grimsby Town, Cooper led Forest Green to promotion to the Football League for the first time in the following season, beating Tranmere Rovers in the 2017 play-off final. [23]
On 23 November 2019 Mark Cooper was accused of provoking Leyton Orient Interim Head Coach Ross Embleton with a comment about the passing of Justin Edinburgh. Cooper denied the allegations, and the Football Association decided not to investigate the matter further. [24]
On 11 April 2021, Forest Green Rovers parted company with Cooper after five years at the club during which he oversaw a historic promotion to the Football League. [25]
Barrow
On 28 May 2021, Cooper was appointed as manager of Barrow after weeks of speculation, signing a three-year deal with the club. [26]
On 17 February 2022, Cooper was given an eight-game touchline ban for comments he allegedly made to a female assistant referee which included a reference to gender. [27]
On 20 March 2022, Cooper left his role as manager by mutual consent the day after a 2–1 Cumbrian Derby defeat to Carlisle United that left his side in 21st position. [28]
Yeovil Town
On 28 October 2022, Cooper was appointed manager of National League side Yeovil Town, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal. [29] Under Cooper, Yeovil were relegated from the National League to the National League South on 18 April 2023. [30]
An impressive start to the 2023–24 season saw Cooper awarded the Manager of the Month award for October 2023 having overseen five wins from five. [31] His winning streak led to a club record of 14 consecutive wins in November, with Yeovil top of the league. [32] [33] On 11 April 2024, a 2–0 victory over Truro City saw Yeovil's promotion as champions secured. [34]
