Thanks to Dave Rowntree for many of the player images after 1984.
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STEVE COOPER
Born: 22 June 1964
Came from: Newport County Went to: Barnsley
First game: 17 August 1985 Last game: 07 May 1988
Appearances: 85 (65/20) Goals: 16
It was no doubt as a schoolboy gymnast that Cooper developed his prodigious leap and tremendous agility, resulting in his trademark soaring headers on the football field. The Birmingham-born forward made his league debut for Halifax Town in the 1983-84 season, on loan from Birmingham City, for whom he never made a league appearance. A brief loan spell followed at NEC Breda in Holland in 1984, before joining Argyle the following year from Newport County in a swap deal involving Gordon Staniforth.
'Coops' played a pivotal role in Dave Smith's promotion side, weighing in with 45 appearances and 8 goals in all competitions that season, most notably a stunning diving header in a rare away win at Dean Court in April 1986. He left Argyle in 1988, later appearing for Barnsley and Tranmere Rovers, for whom he played at Wembley in the Leyland DAF final and scored the winner against his hometown club.
Cooper then had loan spells at Peterborough United and Wigan Athletic before a brief but successful time with York City. Five years at Airdrieonians followed, including a headed Scottish Cup semi-final winner in 1995 which took Airdrie to the final against Celtic, which they narrowly lost 1-0. He finished his career in Scotland with Ayr United in 2002.
Steve tragically died in his sleep in February 2004 at the aged of 39, whilst still involved in football as coach of Studley FC in Warwickshire. In that same year he was inducted into Airdrie’s Hall of Fame in recognition of his service to the club.
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APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
Greens on Screen is run as a service to fellow supporters, in all good faith, without commercial or private gain. I have no wish to abuse copyright regulations and apologise unreservedly if this occurs. If you own any of the material used on this site, and object to its inclusion, please get in touch using the 'Contact Us' button at the top of each page.