Jamie Cooper

**James Taylor Cooper** (born James McCallum) is a main character in the fictional TV series, Wonderkid. He is a professional footballer and popular celebrity. Jamie is a striker at North London FC, his childhood team. He captains both North London and the England Men's National Team.

Jamie is married to Jess Ashwood, and previously dated Emma Thorburne. He is close friends with Landon Williams. During his time on loan at Norwich United, he grew particularly close with Austin Allen, Quinn Evans, Kai Davis, and Alex Wilkes. For a long time, Jamie was fierce rivals with his former best friend, Kyle Hughes. When he went to Vancouver City, Jamie became particularly good friends with Luc Rienne, Donovan Ibrahim, Jason Burwood, and Hwang-Sung Park.

## Early Years

### Birth and Adoption

James "Jamie" McCallum was born in London, England, on January 7, 2003, to Alan McCallum and Taylor Turner. Only one day after he was born, Jamie's mother passed away from complications with childbirth. Distraught by this tragedy and stricken with grief, Jamie's father, Alan, realized he couldn't raise a child on his own. He gave Jamie to his close friend, Oliver Cooper. Oliver and his wife, Lisa, adopted Jamie and changed his middle name to "Taylor" in memory of his late mother. The Coopers never told Jamie about his true heritage, as were Alan's wishes.

### Upbringing

The Coopers raised Jamie practically from birth. They had always wanted a child, but were not able to have one of their own. This meant that they treated Jamie very well, and made sure that he could have the opportunity to pursue whatever he wants in life. From an early age, Jamie took after Oliver's passion for football. That combined with the natural skills he inherited from his birth father, Jamie excelled in the sport.

## Football Career

### Early Career

Jamie was a standout talent in his youth football club, the Tottenham Prodigies. At just 9 years old, he was attracting scouts to his club's matches. In the 2014 Greater London County Cup, Jamie broke multiple scoring records on his team's path to the championship. His birth father, Alan McCallum, saw the rate at which Jamie was progressing and decided to try and convince Frederick Williams to sign him to the youth academy. When he was 10, Jamie signed with the North London Youth Academy alongside a few good friends: Kyle Hughes, his best friend, and Jess Ashwood, his close friend and crush.

### Youth Academy

##### Early Development

Early on at his time in the academy, Jamie was developing well. Unfortunately, his progress took a hit after his father passed away from leukemia when Jamie was only 11. For the next five years, Jamie struggled to improve. Alan McCallum got involved again and managed to convince Frederick Williams to keep Jamie in the academy.

##### Breakout Years

At sixteen years old, Jamie found a new source of motivation that really pushed him to focus on improving. He now desperately wanted to impress Jess and prove that he was better than Kyle, who had just started dating her. Jamie began to rapidly improve, and soon he found himself in the North London U18 lineup.

##### U21 Superstar

At just 17 years old, Jamie made his North London U21 debut. He would continue to play for the U21 squad until he signed with North London's first team. Jamie's entertaining style of play and his charming personality made him extremely popular amongst younger fans. After Jamie turned 18, he began to quickly transition into a lifestyle of parties and hookups. His negligence and ignorance towards his development as a player halted any call-up plans North London had at the time. This meant that Jamie would have to wait until he was 20 years old before he would make his professional debut. However, it wouldn't be for North London. Right after winning the U21 English League Title, Jamie was sent on loan to Norwich United by the new manager, John Hewitt. He would remain there for the entire season.

### U21 International Campaign

Jamie represented England in the Under-21 World Cup when he was 20 years old. Alongside Kyle Hughes, Quinn Evans, and Elijah Kingsley, Jamie led England through a difficult group stage. They finished second in their group, behind France. In the round of 16, Jamie scored a late winner in extra time to give England the win over Argentina. England defeated the hosts, Germany, in another close game to advance to the semi-finals. They faced an inexperienced Australian side led by Austin Allen. Even though he was playing well, Jamie was subbed out early after an altercation with Kyle. Austin went on to score a late goal which eliminated England from the competition. Although the campaign was not a success, Jamie gained a lot more popularity and impressed John Hewitt.

### Norwich United (Loan)

##### Proving Himself

Jamie was welcomed by Norwich United with open arms. He quickly got along with Austin Allen and Quinn Evans. He instantly made an impact, hungry to prove that he deserves to be back at North London. In his professional debut, he helps Norwich United snap their 13-match Premier Division losing streak and grabs their first win of the season with an impressive hat-trick. He earns the respect of Quinn Evans, Kai Davis, and Alex Wilkes; while making another young superstar, Elijah Kingsley, jealous because of the way he has instantly overshadowed him. Only a few days later, Jamie leads Norwich to a thrilling King's Cup upset victory against the much stronger Merseyside Mariners. Jamie lost a little momentum during the U21 World Cup, but quickly picked right back up where he left off when he returned to Norwich. He performs very well, scoring lots of goals. He takes on a higher leadership role within the club, becoming sort of a co-captain with Quinn Evans. Jamie wants to prove himself to North London by lifting Norwich United out of relegation and leading them as far as possible in the King's Cup Tournament. As Norwich picked up key victories against AC Rochdale, Westminster Wanderers, and Cardiff Town, they began preparing for a massive quarter-final matchup in the King's Cup.

##### King's Cup Campaign

Norwich had upset the Merseyside Mariners in the round of 16 thanks to a brilliant performance from Jamie. Now, they were up against another tough team in the quarter-final. AFC Birmingham were a much better side, second in the Premier Division to be exact. Not many people had Norwich United getting out of this one, but they did. A late winner from Austin Allen off a beautiful pass from Jamie spelled the end for Birmingham as Norwich marched on. The semi-final matchup saw Norwich face off against the Blackpool Knights. In a similar way they beat Birmingham, Jamie sent an amazing pass to Elijah Kingsley, who buried the goal. Norwich held on for the rest of the game to take a 1-0 win, setting up an intriguing matchup in the final with none other than North London FC. Extremely motivated to beat the team who sent him on loan, Jamie locked in. However, he wasn't ready for Kyle Hughes' aggressiveness. North London proved to be the much better side in the first half, as they put Norwich down 0-1. At half, Jamie rallies the team in the dressing room. A beautiful goal from Austin Allen evened up the game at one apiece. The game went to extra-time, in which a reckless tackle from Kyle Hughes results in the forward being sent off. In penalties, Jamie scores the goal to lift Norwich to a historic victory.

##### Saving Norwich

Throughout his time at Norwich United, Jamie had been a massive help to the struggling club. He helped them rack up important wins and draws to build momentum. On the final matchday, against a much tougher Merseyside Mariners squad out for revenge, Norwich found themselves three points away from being lifted out of relegation. They went up 1-0, but after an injury to key forward Austin Allen, fell behind 1-2. Jamie helped rally the team, scoring the equalizer and later the winner in the 90th minute.

### North London FC (1st Stint)

##### In the Spotlight

After his loan time at Norwich United ended, Jamie said goodbye to all of his teammates and travelled back home to North London. Jamie had lots of pressure to succeed from media, management, and teammates after his spectacular rookie season. All of the stress in his life was building up, and becoming too much for him to handle. Jamie slipped back into his old habits as a way to handle the stress.

##### ACL Tear

In the first game of the season, against Hammersmith Town, Jamie goes down with a horrible ACL tear after getting too aggressive. His fitness and conditioning was not good enough and he was pushing himself too hard. This injury practically ended his season, as he was given an estimated recovery time of 7-9 months. Many fans and media pundits were speculating whether or not Jamie would even play again. ACL tears are one of the most common career ending injuries among young footballers. Some may recover and play again, but they never reach the same level they once were at. Only in rare cases has a player come back from an ACL tear and gotten better on the pitch. Things were looking bleak for Jamie, with his only option at the moment being surgery.

##### Surgery and Rehabilitation

Jamie underwent a successful ACL reconstruction surgery, the first step in a long road to recovery. Jamie began using crutches and a leg brace to move around after the operation. Jamie wanted to aim for the quickest recovery possible, despite warnings from doctors, family and friends. He began physiotherapy with North London's medical team not even a week after the surgery was complete. Jamie started doing strengthening and range-of-motion exercises to help make his knee stronger. After about four months of physio, Jamie started doing running exercises again. He constantly fought with North London's medical team over what he should and should not be doing. Jamie kept pushing himself too hard, and after a heated argument with John Hewitt, found himself in a very icy situation with the club. The club refused to offer him any more medical treatment, instead recommending he go to a regular sports medicine clinic. Jamie got his recovery right back on track, but it would take a little bit longer. Eight long months after the initial tear, Jamie returned to the field. He started practicing his skills on the pitch again, and this is when he realized he still had a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, Jamie would be hit with yet another huge bombshell.

##### Release

Jamie was released from North London FC after constantly arguing with management and disobeying team orders from the coaches and medical staff. Jamie had an attitude focused only on himself, and Hewitt wanted him out because of it. Jamie was now back on the field again, but had no club to play for.

### Free Agent

##### Negotiations

Jamie was declared a free agent after his contract was terminated by North London FC. He continued training, with his knee now basically back to normal. Jamie was rapidly improving, quickly getting back to where he was before the injury. Things were looking up as multiple clubs across Europe were showing interest in his development. Jamie called up some of his buddies from Norwich United, but unfortunately the club could not afford to take a talent like Jamie on a full time deal. He was formally approached by North London's rivals, the Manchester Marauders. Jamie had never before considered signing with Manchester, North London's historic rivals, but now he felt lots of animosity towards his hometown club, who he felt treated him poorly. Jamie and his agent, Eric Lewis, began negotiations with Manchester. Things seemed to be going well until the club pulled out of negotiations after Kyle Hughes ...