GENIUS is an over-used tag but it applied to Davie Cooper. He possessed a left foot on a par with Jim Baxter and dazzled defenders with his stunning wing play and magnificent crosses.
A match-winner in every sense of the phrase, his death from a brain haemorrhage at the age of 39 in 1995 stunned the nation.
Many rate him as one of the most gifted Scottish players of all time, up there with Denis Law, Jim Baxter and Kenny Dalglish. With the ball at his feet, no-one knew what to expect – except, perhaps, the unexpected.
He would run at defenders, show them a glimpse of the ball, pull it back, feint and then with a shimmy he would be gone – often past several players.
He could cross an inch-perfect ball to either head or foot and possessed such stunning shooting power that it made him a scorer of spectacular goals.
Two such gems among the 75 goals he scored for Rangers were a free kick against Aberdeen in the League Cup Final on October 25 1987 and his finest strike of all in the Drybrough Cup Final against Celtic on August 4 1979.
Against Aberdeen he hit the ball so hard past a wall of players that it rocketed into the far corner of the net beyond a helpless Jim Leighton.
Against Celtic, he received the ball on his chest with his back to goal on the edge of the box and seemingly nowhere to go. Cooper flicked it in the air four times with his left foot taking him past four Celtic defenders and put it in the net.
It was a majestic strike of outlandish flair and imagination and was voted the Greatest Ever Rangers Goal in a worldwide poll by fans.
It also summed up the essence of Cooper. For he was not at his best when receiving tactical instruction and told to stick to a plan. To bring out his genius, Cooper had to be given a free role and allowed to play the game as he saw it.
Cooper was born in Hamilton on February 25 1956. He became an apprentice printer and played for local amateurs Hamilton Avondale.
He joined Clydebank, receiving just over £300 as a signing on fee. The money, in fact, was the previous night’s takings from the Bankies social club.
More from here.... https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/cooper-gone-but-not-forgotten/
My Hero & Club legend
R.i.p Davie
Hero & Legend
posted on 23/3/20
That game where he played against a team in yellow and roasted them all night long
Laid on a goal for fleck with some amazing work
Love football when played like that
posted on 23/3/20
Every time he lined up a free kick v Aberdeen I always though he was gonna score
posted on 23/3/20
Poor mans Aiden McGeady
posted on 23/3/20
Saw him quite a bit at Motherwell in his latter years.
Never really a pace merchant so he never lost it to any extent. He was brilliant on the ball and could pass and cross with unbelievable precision.
Rangers let him go a little early IMO. I mentioned this before and some posters had an explanation...I can't remember what it was.
posted on 23/3/20
The Souness era was just starting and he had his ideas and players,think Cooper thought he would be benched more but thought he still had it for first team football,he just wanted to play and with a heavey heart moved to Motherwell.
He was one moody character at times,hated the press big time,wasn`t a great fan of training either
Taken to young
posted on 23/3/20
comment by Joe-ny Stokes is my da (U15888)
posted 4 hours, 4 minutes ago
Poor mans Aiden McGeady
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Aiden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmECazR7jyA
posted on 23/3/20
A joy to watch
posted on 23/3/20
comment by CelticTornado (U4316)
posted 7 hours, 17 minutes ago
That game where he played against a team in yellow and roasted them all night long
Laid on a goal for fleck with some amazing work
Love football when played like that
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Ilves Tampere
One of the best performances I’ve seen from anyone. Real virtuoso stuff
posted on 23/3/20
https://www.facebook.com/210468495638580/posts/3134486679903399/
posted on 23/3/20
comment by rats juice a big perry baps nat ❤️ (U6393)
posted 2 hours, 16 minutes ago
comment by CelticTornado (U4316)
posted 7 hours, 17 minutes ago
That game where he played against a team in yellow and roasted them all night long
Laid on a goal for fleck with some amazing work
Love football when played like that
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Ilves Tampere
One of the best performances I’ve seen from anyone. Real virtuoso stuff
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yes brilliant