Neale Cooper

**Neale James Cooper** (24 November 1963 – 28 May 2018) was a Scottish football player and coach. He was born in Darjeeling, India to Scottish parents. He was raised in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Cooper played as a midfielder during the 1980s and 1990s, mainly for the Aberdeen team managed by Alex Ferguson. He later played for Aston Villa, Rangers, Reading, Dunfermline Athletic and Ross County.

Cooper then became a coach, and worked as a manager in England with Hartlepool United and Gillingham, and in Scotland with Ross County and Peterhead.

On 28 May 2018 it was reported that Cooper was in a critical condition after being found collapsed in the stairwell of flats in Aberdeen. He died later that day of suspected cardiac arrest, aged 54.

### <small>Appearances and goals by club, season and competition</small>

|rowspan="2"|Club|rowspan="2"|Season|colspan="3"|League|colspan="2"|National Cup|colspan="2"|League Cup|colspan="2"|Europe|colspan="2"|Other|colspan="2"|Total||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="9"|Aberdeen|1978-79|rowspan="8"|Scottish Premier Division|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|0|0|
|1979-80|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|0|0|||||
|1980-81|6|0|1|0|0|0|1|0|-|-|8|0|||||
|1981-82|27|3|5|1|8|1|6|0|-|-|46|5|||||
|1982-83|31|2|5|1|7|0|9|0|-|-|52|3|||||
|1983-84|26|0|6|1|8|0|9|0|-|-|49|1|||||
|1984-85|20|1|5|0|0|0|2|0|-|-|27|1|||||
|1985-86|23|0|5|0|4|0|6|0|-|-|38|0|||||
|rowspan="4"|Aston Villa|1986-87|First Division|13|0|2|1|0|0|0|0|-|-|15|1||
|1987-88|Second Division|7|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|7|0||||
|1988-89|First Division|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|0|0||||
|rowspan="3"|Rangers|1988-89|rowspan="2"|Scottish Premier Division|14|1|2|0|1|0|0|0|-|-|17|1|
|1989-90|3|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|3|0|||||
|rowspan="2"|Reading|1991-92|Third Division|7|0|0|0|2|0|-|-|-|-|9|0||
|rowspan="6"|Dunfermline Athletic|1991-92|Scottish Premier Division|21|0|2|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|23|0||
|1992-93|rowspan="4"|Scottish First Division|33|1|0|0|2|0|-|-|-|-|35|1|||
|1993-94|30|2|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|30|2|||||
|1994-95|15|0|1|0|2|0|-|-|-|-|18|0|||||
|1995-96|4|0|0|0|1|0|-|-|1|0|6|0|||||
|rowspan="4"|Ross County|1996-97|rowspan="3"|Scottish Third Division|4|0|0|0|1|0|-|-|-|-|5|0|
|1997-98|1|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|1|0|||||
|1998-99|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|0|0|||||

## Managerial statistics

|rowspan=2|Team|rowspan=2|From|rowspan=2|To|colspan=5|Record|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="left"|Ross County|align="left"|1 July 1996|align="left"|11 November 2002|||
|align="left"|Hartlepool United|align="left"|26 June 2003|align="left"|4 May 2005|||
|align="left"|Gillingham|align="left"|21 May 2005|align="left"|15 November 2005|||
|align="left"|Peterhead|align="left"|10 January 2008|align="left"|22 March 2011|||
|align="left"|Hartlepool United|align="left"|28 December 2011|align="left"|24 October 2012|||

### Player

- Aberdeen
- Scottish Premier Division: 1983–84, 1984–85
- Scottish Cup: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86
- Scottish League Cup: 1985–86
- European Cup Winners Cup: 1983
- European Super Cup: 1983

- Rangers
- Scottish League Cup: 1988–89

- Dunfermline Athletic
- Scottish First Division: 1996

### Manager

- Ross County
- Scottish Third Division: 1998–99
- Scottish Second Division promotion: 1999–2000

- Individual
- Football League One Manager of the Month (at Hartlepool): January 2005

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Neale Cooper
- **fullname**: Neale James Cooper
- **birth place**: Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
- **death place**: Aberdeen, Scotland
- **position**: Midfielder
- **youthyears1**: 1978–1979
- **youthclubs1**: King Street
- **youthyears2**: 1979–1980
- **youthclubs2**: Aberdeen F.C. Reserves and Academy, Aberdeen
- **years1**: 1980–1986
- **years2**: 1986–1988
- **years3**: 1988–1990
- **years4**: 1990–1991
- **years5**: 1991-1996
- **years6**: 1996–1996
- **years7**: 1996–1998
- **clubs1**: Aberdeen F.C., Aberdeen
- **clubs2**: Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa
- **clubs3**: Rangers F.C., Rangers
- **clubs4**: Reading F.C., Reading
- **clubs5**: Dunfermline Athletic F.C., Dunfermline Athletic
- **clubs6**: Ross County F.C., Ross County
- **caps1**: 133
- **goals1**: 6
- **caps2**: 20
- **goals2**: 0
- **caps3**: 17
- **goals3**: 1
- **caps4**: 7
- **goals4**: 0
- **caps5**: 103
- **goals5**: 3
- **caps6**: 5
- **goals6**: 0
- **totalcaps**: 285
- **totalgoals**: 10
- **nationalyears1**: 1981–1985
- **nationalteam1**: Scotland national under-21 football team, Scotland U21
- **nationalyears2**: 1983
- **nationalteam2**: Scotland national under-19 football team, Scotland U19
- **nationalcaps1**: 13
- **nationalgoals1**: 0
- **manageryears1**: 1996–2002
- **manageryears2**: 2003–2005
- **manageryears3**: 2005
- **manageryears4**: 2008–2011
- **manageryears5**: 2011–2012
- **managerclubs1**: Ross County F.C., Ross County
- **managerclubs2**: Hartlepool United F.C., Hartlepool United
- **managerclubs3**: Gillingham F.C., Gillingham
- **managerclubs4**: Peterhead F.C., Peterhead
- **managerclubs5**: Hartlepool United F.C., Hartlepool United