Kenny Cooper

Kenneth Scott Cooper Jr. (born October 21, 1984) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward.[1] He began his soccer career with Manchester United but failed to break through to the first team. He went on to play for clubs in Portugal, Germany, England, the United States, and Canada.

For his father, the English football goalkeeper and coach, see Kenny Cooper Sr.

Kenny Cooper
Cooper in 2007
Personal information
Full name Kenneth Scott Cooper Jr.
Date of birth (1984-10-21) October 21, 1984
Place of birth Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
2003–2004 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2006 Manchester United 0 (0)
2004 → Académica Coimbra (loan) 10 (0)
2005 → Oldham Athletic (loan) 7 (3)
2006–2009 FC Dallas 90 (40)
2009–2011 1860 Munich 13 (2)
2010 → Plymouth Argyle (loan) 7 (0)
2011 Portland Timbers 34 (8)
2012 New York Red Bulls 33 (18)
2013 FC Dallas 31 (6)
2014–2015 Seattle Sounders FC 22 (3)
2015 Montreal Impact 1 (0)
2015 → FC Montreal (loan) 1 (0)
Total 249 (80)
International career
2007–2009 United States 10 (4)
Medal record
Representing  United States
Runner-upCONCACAF Gold Cup2009
Men's Soccer
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

Cooper's father, Kenny Cooper Sr., played professional soccer as a goalkeeper in England before moving to the United States to play for Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League. Cooper was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and, under the mentorship of his father, he became an outstanding youth player.[2] After retiring from coaching professional soccer, Cooper's father had settled the family in Dallas, Texas, where Cooper attended high school at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. He was the Dallas area high school player of the year while playing, graduating in 2003.

Club career

Manchester United

While playing with the Dallas Solar 85 Soccer Club in the Dallas Cup, an international youth tournament, Cooper caught the attention of several former NASL players who contacted Jimmy Ryan, Director of Youth Football at Manchester United. Ryan had also once played with Cooper's father when they were both with the Tornado. Ryan contacted the Coopers and invited Kenny to England for a trial. The fact that Cooper's father was a native of England helped grease the skids for Cooper as United did not need to acquire a work permit for him. Following a successful week-long trial, United signed him on a free transfer. At the time Cooper had intended to attend Southern Methodist University, but decided to forgo playing college soccer in order to pursue his professional career.[3]

FC Dallas

Cooper signed with FC Dallas on February 6, 2006, and made an immediate impact on the team. He made his first MLS appearance on April 1, 2006, and scored his first MLS career goal helping FC Dallas to a 3–2 victory against the Chicago Fire. Cooper made his first MLS start the following week against Real Salt Lake on April 8, 2006, scoring the team's first goal in a 2–1 victory. He finished his first MLS season tied for sixth in goals scored with 11 and made 31 appearances. At the start of the 2007 MLS Season, Cooper scored four goals in the first eight games before he suffered a broken right tibia in a 3–1 win against the Los Angeles Galaxy by a strong tackle from Tyrone Marshall that put him out for a majority of the season. This ended his hopes of playing in the 2007 Copa América and for the national team. Cooper ended the 2007 season with a total of 12 starts out of 14 appearances, four goals, and two assists.

Cooper was linked with a possible move to Cardiff City on July 27, 2008, after the club made a £2,000,000 bid.[4] Norway's Rosenborg bid more than that and also offered a salary of $1.2 million.[5] MLS ultimately rejected both bids and decided to keep him.

In the 2008 MLS season, Cooper led FC Dallas with 18 goals and started all 30 games. He was the only FC Dallas player to appear in all regular season games that year. Cooper finished the season tied for the league lead with four game-winning goals. Fourteen of Cooper's 18 goals either tied or gave FC Dallas the lead, while the other four goals helped increase the team's lead. He was named to his first MLS All-Star First XI selection and MLS Best XI team. He earned back-to-back MLS Player of the Week honours for his two-goal performances against the Los Angeles Galaxy (4–0 win) on July 27, 2008, and Toronto FC (2–0 win) on August 8, 2008. Cooper was also named the MLS Comeback Player of the Year for 2008.

1860 Munich
A brown-haired caucasian male in a blue and black training kit.
Cooper in his 1860 Munich training kit

On July 31, 2009, FC Dallas announced that Cooper had been sold to 2. Bundesliga club TSV 1860 Munich. As per league policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.[6] However, German teams do disclose the amounts of transfers, Cooper was sold for $700,000 in 2009 it is known that the contract ran for three years. He scored his first goal for 1860 Munich in his debut on August 9, 2009.

Plymouth Argyle

On January 28, 2010, Cooper left Munich to return to England, signing for Plymouth Argyle on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season[7] with a view to a permanent move at the end of the season. However, this option was not taken up by the club.

Portland Timbers

On January 13, 2011, TSV 1860 Munich announced that Cooper would not fulfil his contract which had been set to run until June 2012 and would be joining Portland Timbers on a free transfer. While Timbers technical director Gavin Wilkinson initially cautioned that a deal had yet to be struck,[8] on January 17, 2011, he announced Portland had finally completed Cooper's transfer and that he would be joining the team pending the receipt of his International Transfer Certificate.[9] He scored the first MLS goal for the Portland Timbers in a 3–1 loss on their MLS debut, against Colorado Rapids on March 19, 2011.[10] He scored his third goal of the season in a 1–0 win over Real Salt Lake. This marked the Timbers first shutout win and snapped Salt Lake's 18-game unbeaten streak.[11]

New York Red Bulls

On January 12, 2012, Cooper was traded to the New York Red Bulls for a first-round 2013 MLS SuperDraft pick and an undisclosed amount of allocation money.[12] He made his MLS regular season debut with the New York Red Bulls on Sunday, March 11, and scored his first goal for the Red Bulls against FC Dallas, his former team, at FC Dallas Stadium. Cooper was the top scorer for the team during the 2012 MLS Season.

FC Dallas

Cooper was re-acquired by FC Dallas from New York on February 4, 2013, in exchange for allocation money.[13] He appeared in 31 regular-season games during the 2013 season, scoring 6 goals.

Seattle Sounders FC

Having failed to agree to a new contract with FC Dallas, Cooper was due to be made available in the 2013 MLS Re-Entry Draft. However, on 13 December 2013, prior to the draft, Seattle Sounders FC announced that they had acquired the rights to negotiate a contract with Cooper, as well as allocation money, in exchange for midfielder Adam Moffat,[14][15] and signed him to a contract on December 19, 2013.[16] In his first season with the club Cooper helped Seattle in capturing the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup scoring six goals in four games, including a two-goal, two-assist effort in the semifinals against Chicago on August 13. He was named the U.S. Open Cup Player of the Tournament.[17]

Montreal Impact

On April 12, 2015, Cooper moved to Montreal Impact via MLS waivers.[18] He made only one appearance with the club due to an injury.

Cooper had trials with Orlando City SC,[19] New York Red Bulls,[20] Sporting Kansas City,[21] and FC Dallas[22] but no playing contracts were agreed.

International career

After the retirement of Brian McBride, Cooper was considered to be a potential long-term solution at striker for the national team.[23] Cooper got his first cap and first goal for the national team on January 20, 2007, against Denmark where he scored a goal after coming on near the end of the game. He then appeared in a game against Guatemala, which was played in his MLS club's home stadium, Pizza Hut Park, as a second half sub. He was unable to take part in the 2007 Copa América after he was sidelined with a broken right tibia. On November 20, 2008, Cooper got his first World Cup Qualifying start and his first World Cup qualifying-round goal against Guatemala in the final game of the semifinal group stage. On July 18, 2009, Cooper took a boot to the chest from Roman Torres of Panama, resulting in a penalty kick which he took to put the U.S. through to the semifinal round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.[24] Five days later, Cooper scored near the end of the match against Honduras to give the U.S. a 2–0 lead and to put them safely into the final of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[25] He has a total of 10 international appearances (caps) with 4 goals.[26]

Personal life

Cooper married Molly Grimm in Charleston, South Carolina on January 7, 2012. Currently, he lives in Charleston where he is involved with youth soccer coaching.[27]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other[lower-alpha 1] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Manchester United 2004–05 000000000000
2005–06 000000000000
Académica Coimbra (loan) 2004–05 100100
Oldham Athletic (loan) 2004–05 731000–1093
FC Dallas 2006 311123––203514
2007 144–––20164
2008 301821–––3219
2009 15710–––167
1860 Munich 2009–10 61–––61
2010–11 7121–––92
Plymouth Argyle (loan) 2009–10 700000––70
Portland Timbers 2011 348––––348
New York Red Bulls 2012 331821––203719
FC Dallas 2013 31622–00–338
Seattle Sounders FC 2014 22346000010279
2015 000000000000
Montreal Impact 2015 100000000010
Career total 24880161400008027294
  1. Includes Football League Trophy and MLS Cup Playoffs.

International
Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cooper goal.
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result CompetitionRef.
 List of international goals scored by Kenny Cooper
1January 20, 2007Home Depot Center, Carson, United States Denmark3–13–1Friendly
2November 20, 2008Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Denver, United States Guatemala1–02–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3July 19, 2009Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, United States Panama2–12–12009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
4July 24, 2009Soldier Field, Chicago, United States Honduras2–02–02009 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Honors

Individual

References
  1. Melcer, Garrett. "FC Dallas Legend Kenny Cooper Returns to Hometown Club". FCDallas.com. Retrieved February 20, 2020. Now, four years into his retirement...
  2. Carlisle, Jeff (April 26, 2006). "A breath of fresh air". ESPN. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  3. Connolly, Marc (March 11, 2004). "Cooper thriving with Red Devil reserves". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
  4. Roberts, Simon (July 27, 2008). "Cardiff City are hoping that Cooperman will come to their rescue after a series of blows in the summer transfer market, writes Terry Phillips". Wales Online. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved July 27, 2008.
  5. Mahoney, Ridge (July 29, 2008). "Scorers pushing MLS to the brink". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
  6. Evans, Shane (July 31, 2009). "Cooper To Leave FC Dallas For TSV 1860 Munich". Goal.com. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  7. "Cooper wechselt nach Plymouth" (in German). TSV 1860 Munich. January 28, 2010. Archived from the original on January 31, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
  8. Arnold, Geoffrey (January 13, 2011). "Timbers Still Pursuing Kenny Cooper". The Oregonian. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  9. "Timbers Sign Forward Kenny Cooper". Portland Timbers. January 17, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  10. "Rapids too strong, spoil expansion debut for Timbers". Major League Soccer. March 19, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  11. Oram, Bill (May 1, 2011). "RSL falls to upstart Portland". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  12. "Reports: Cooper traded to NY Red Bulls". Fox Sports. January 12, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  13. "FC Dallas acquires forwards Kenny Cooper and Eric Hassli". FC Dallas. February 4, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  14. "Sounders FC Acquires the Rights to Kenny Cooper". soundersfc.com. Seattle Sounders FC. December 13, 2013. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  15. "FC Dallas acquires veteran midfielder Adam Moffat from Seattle Sounders FC". fcdallas.com. FC Dallas. December 13, 2013. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  16. Sounders FC Signs Forward Kenny Cooper. Seattle Sounders FC web site, accessed Dec. 19, 2013.
  17. Clark, Dave (November 13, 2014). "Kenny Cooper named U.S. Open Cup Player of Tournament". Sounder At Heart. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  18. "Impact acquires forward Kenny Cooper | Montreal Impact". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  19. "Report: Kenny Cooper on trial with Orlando City SC | MLSSoccer.com".
  20. "Kenny Cooper on Trial with the Red Bulls". January 28, 2016.
  21. https://wwws.reportingkc.com/2016/02/22/sporting-kc-bring-in-kenny-cooper-on-trial/amp/
  22. "FC Dallas Practice Observations: November 16th". November 16, 2017.
  23. Galarcep, Ives (January 8, 2007). "Plenty of opportunity in Bradley's first training camp". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  24. Hunt, Steve (June 10, 2007). "Cooper injury casts cloud over win". Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  25. "U.S. beats Honduras 2–0 to reach Gold Cup finals". FoxSports.com. Associated Press. July 24, 2009. Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  26. "2009 MNT Statistics". U.S. Soccer. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  27. "FC Dallas Practice Observations: November 16th". November 16, 2017.
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