Steve Cooper

Steve Cooper (born 10 December 1979) is a Welsh professional football manager and former player.

Cooper began his coaching career at Wrexham's academy while playing as a defender in the Welsh football leagues.

Cooper was born on 10 December 1979 in Pontypridd, Wales, and raised in nearby Hopkinstown.

He is the son of Welsh former football referee Keith Cooper.

As a youngster, Cooper played football in the Rhondda leagues and was a Liverpool supporter.

In the late 1990s, Cooper joined Wrexham but did not make an appearance for the club.

He was signed by manager Brian Flynn, who suggested Cooper pursue a coaching career instead of playing professionally.

Cooper later played for Total Network Solutions (now called The New Saints), Rhyl, Bangor City and Porthmadog in the Welsh football leagues.

He featured for Bangor City in the UEFA Cup against FK Sartid Smederevo in 2002.

While a player, Cooper studied for his coaching badges and began coaching at Wrexham's academy.

At the age of 27, Cooper obtained his UEFA Pro Licence, becoming one of the youngest coaches to achieve the qualification.

After several years coaching at Wrexham's academy, Cooper became the club's head of youth development.

He moved to Liverpool in 2008 and was appointed manager of their academy in 2011.

On 3 September 2008, Cooper was appointed as a youth coach at Liverpool, initially taking charge of the under-12s.

On 18 July 2011, he was named manager of Liverpool's academy.

Cooper coached the under-18s for the 2012–13 season, leading them to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup, where they lost to Chelsea.

While at Liverpool, Cooper oversaw the development of such players as Raheem Sterling, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ben Woodburn.

In 2013, Cooper joined the FA as a youth coach educator and also taught on the FA Wales A Licence course.

Cooper joined the England youth set-up in 2014, initially coaching the U16s, before winning the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup with the U17s.

On 13 October 2014, Cooper was appointed as manager of the England national under-16 team.

The following year, he took charge of the under-17s, coaching players such as Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Cooper led his side to the final of the 2017 UEFA European U17 Championship, where they lost to Spain 4–1 on penalties following a 2–2 draw.

Cooper's U17s then won the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup in October 2017, beating Brazil 3–1 in the semi-final and Spain 5–2 in the final.

The following year, Cooper's side reached the semi-finals of the 2018 UEFA European U17 Championship, where they lost to Netherlands on penalties.

He became head coach of Swansea City in 2019 before managing Nottingham Forest from 2021 to 2023.

They did not qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2019 UEFA European U17 Championship, despite beating Sweden 3–1 in their final group game.

During his time at England, Cooper oversaw a specialised coaching model which included in-possession and out-of-possession coaches.

He was also responsible for the coaching programme and curriculum for the under-15s.

On training young players, Cooper said, "Sometimes I will talk and tell the players my thoughts, but most of the time I facilitate... that's how players learn, as a modern player. The days are gone, for me, where everything is the coach telling the player, that's finished."

Cooper was appointed head coach of Championship club Swansea City on 13 June 2019 on a three-year contract.

His first match was a 2–1 win against Hull City at the Liberty Stadium, with goals from Borja Bastón and Mike van der Hoorn.

Cooper was named the EFL's Championship Manager of the Month for August after Swansea's unbeaten start to the season saw them move top of the league, with 16 points from 18.

This was Swansea's best start to a season in 41 years.

During the January transfer window, Cooper signed Rhian Brewster, Marc Guéhi and Conor Gallagher (all of whom Cooper had coached in the England set-up) on loan from Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent pandemic, the Championship season was suspended indefinitely, with Swansea in 11th place and three points from the play-offs.

The season restarted on 20 June.

On the final day of the season, Swansea beat Reading 4–1 to finish sixth, moving into the play-offs ahead of Nottingham Forest on goal difference.

They were defeated by Brentford 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-final.

In his second season, Cooper again led Swansea to the play-offs, despite criticism of his style of play and Swansea's poor form towards the end of the season.

They drew 2–2 with Reading on 25 April 2021 to secure their play-off place, with two league games left in the season.