Matthew Cooper (footballer)

Matthew Cooper

Personal information
Date of birth	(1994-07-01) 1 July 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Macduff, Scotland
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Elgin City
Number	2
Youth career
	Deveronvale
2010–2012	Aberdeen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2014	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3	(0)
2014–	Elgin City	243	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:16, 1 June 2025 (UTC)

Matthew Cooper (born 1 July 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Scottish League Two club Elgin City.

He began his career with Inverness Caledonian Thistle. ^[1]

Early and personal life

Cooper was born in Macduff and attended Banff Academy. ^{[2] [3]} Cooper played for Macduff Lions Boys Club and Deveronvale, and also represented Aberdeenshire, North of Scotland Regional and Scotland Schoolboys National U18s. ^[4]

Career

Cooper began his career as a youth player for Macduff Lions Boys Club ^[5] before moving onto Deveronvale and Aberdeen. ^[6] He joined the senior team of Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the start of the 2012–13 season, ^[7] going on to make his senior debut for Inverness in the Scottish Premier League on 22 December 2012. ^[8]

After two years at the club, Cooper was released by Inverness ^[9] and was among three players to join Elgin City. ^[10]

Career statistics

As of match played 3 May 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Scottish Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2012–13 [11]	Premier League	3	0	0	0	0	0	—		3	0
	2013–14 [12]	Scottish Premiership	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Elgin City	2014–15 [13]	Scottish League Two	33	0	2	0	1	0	1 [a]	0	37	0
	2015–16 [14]	Scottish League Two	34	0	2	0	1	0	4 [b]	0	41	0
	2016–17 [15]	Scottish League Two	28	0	3	0	3	0	2 [a]	0	36	0
	2017–18 [16]	Scottish League Two	20	1	1	0	4	0	2 [a]	0	27	1
	2018–19 [17]	Scottish League Two	25	0	3	0	4	0	1 [a]	0	33	0
	2019–20 [18]	Scottish League Two	28	0	2	0	4	0	5 [a]	1	39	1
	2020–21 [19]	Scottish League Two	20	1	1	0	4	0	2 [c]	0	27	1
	2021–22 [20]	Scottish League Two	20	3	2	0	2	0	0	0	24	3
	2022–23 [21]	Scottish League Two	18	1	1	0	4	0	3 [a]	0	26	1
	2023–24 [22]	Scottish League Two	15	0	1	0	0	0	1 [a]	0	17	0
	2024–25 [23]	Scottish League Two	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		243	6	18	0	27	0	21	1	304	7
Career total			246	6	18	0	27	0	21	1	307	7

1. Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
2. Two appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup and two in the League One play-offs
3. Two appearances in the League One play-offs

References

1. "Profile". Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
2. "Banff pupil's joy at Scotland call-up". banffshire-journal.co.uk. Banffshire Journal. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
3. Crawford, G (31 August 2010). "Mathew gets his Dons big break". Banffshire Journal. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
4. "Scotland call for Macduff youth". banffshire-journal.co.uk. Banffshire Journal. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
5. "Scotland call for Macduff youth". banffshire-journal.co.uk. Banffshire Journal. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
6. "AFC Youth Academy". afc.co.uk. Aberdeen F.C. 1 July 2010. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
7. Graham Linton (24 July 2012). "Butcher will be cautious with Cooper". Inverness Courier.
8. "Inverness CT 4 – 1 Dundee". BBC Sport. 22 December 2012.
9. "Christie signs new ICT deal". Inverness Courier. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
10. "Elgin bring in trio". SPFL. SPFL. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
11. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
12. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
13. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
14. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
15. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
16. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
17. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
18. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
19. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
20. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
21. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
22. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
23. "Games played by Matthew Cooper in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2024.