Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine

Heroes & Villains => Villa Memories => Topic started by: Davey B on December 28, 2011, 05:04:43 PM

Title: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Davey B on December 28, 2011, 05:04:43 PM
Don't know whether he was a hero to you guys or not, but your ex-player Neale Cooper has just taken over up here at Hartlepool!  I like Hartlepool, hope he does a good job!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16347508.stm
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: john e on December 28, 2011, 05:08:54 PM
yeah,
 big hero of mine, remember him playing many many times
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Astral Weeks on December 28, 2011, 05:44:50 PM
I actually did see him play, once. I guess that puts me in a small, select group.
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: bertlambshank on December 28, 2011, 05:51:54 PM
He was warming up in front of the Trinity and he was grunting.
A big old unit.
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: berneboy on December 28, 2011, 05:56:05 PM
It's his second time there as manager.
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: nigel on December 28, 2011, 06:04:10 PM
Wasn't he bought by Graham Turner but spent ages injured?
I never saw him play, I know he was supposed to be good but, apparently, never fulfilled his potential due to injuries.
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Damo70 on December 28, 2011, 06:09:25 PM
If I remember right he did a decent job there last time around and it was a bit of a mystery why he left/lost his job. Don't know if you can confirm or contradict that Davey? I did see Neale Cooper play for the Villa towards the end of the relegation season and a bit at the start of the promotion season but all I can think of when I hear is name is a story my former boss told me about twenty years ago. She was a bit of a Liberty's nightclub groupie back in the eighties. She 'knew' Tony Godden and Alan McInally particularly well. She went out with Neale Cooper for a short while but the relationship ended due to him liking a drink a bit too much and his problem with wetting the bed afterwards. (Allegedly).
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: dave.woodhall on December 28, 2011, 06:21:46 PM
When he was fit he was mental. He went into a 50/50 with Stuart Pearce in front of the old Witton Lane stand and wasn't the second of them to get up, not by a long way.
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air on December 28, 2011, 07:12:22 PM
Big larger than life character.

I did work at his house off Penns Lane a couple of times. I remember every other sentence would be interspersed with the phrase `TOP MAN !`bellowed loudly and enthusiastically in a broad Scottish accent.

I just checked to see what part of Scotland he was born and brought up in, his birthplace was actually Darjeeling in India.
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Davey B on December 28, 2011, 07:45:27 PM
If I remember right he did a decent job there last time around and it was a bit of a mystery why he left/lost his job. Don't know if you can confirm or contradict that Davey? I did see Neale Cooper play for the Villa towards the end of the relegation season and a bit at the start of the promotion season but all I can think of when I hear is name is a story my former boss told me about twenty years ago. She was a bit of a Liberty's nightclub groupie back in the eighties. She 'knew' Tony Godden and Alan McInally particularly well. She went out with Neale Cooper for a short while but the relationship ended due to him liking a drink a bit too much and his problem with wetting the bed afterwards. (Allegedly).

Aye Damo, he done really well, particularly with the financial constraints there. He got them to the play offs, which was a big thing at the time, and was going well the season after if i remember rightly. I think he left of his own accord, don't know if it was for another job or not! But, he definately done well the last time he was there. Would love to see them get up to the Championship!  :D
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: jimmygreen on January 05, 2012, 09:49:20 PM
When he was fit he was mental. He went into a 50/50 with Stuart Pearce in front of the old Witton Lane stand and wasn't the second of them to get up, not by a long way.

I remember that - you could hear the whack at the bottom of the Holte. He signed an autograph for us once through the fence outside the Trinity / North. He liked a bit of aftershave did Neale. He also scored on the ice rink against Chelsea in the FA Cup 3rd round that year. I think Steve Hunt got the other in a 2 - 2 draw. I could be wrong but those two events represent his major contributions in a Villa shirt.

I thought he was ace.
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Oscar Arce on January 06, 2012, 10:16:51 AM
I remember him well, signed from Aberdeen wasn't he ? With a big blond curly perm believe it or not, his tackling was indeed robust to say the least but my abiding memory of him is that actually he was crap. ;D
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Dave Clark Five on January 08, 2012, 01:37:53 PM
I remember going to a friendly at Celtic. Their fans were giving Cooper loads of stick. I asked one of them what their issue was with him. He told me that Neale Cooper was the dirtiest player in Scotland.
Just the man we wanted, I thought. The trouble was that he was dogged with injuries and we didn't see the best (or should it be worst?) of him.
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: barrysleftfoot on January 08, 2012, 06:51:35 PM
  Don't recall seeing him play tbh, how many games did he play for us.


  Was'nt the reason for the hatred between Aberdeen and Rangers started because of him "doing" Durrant?
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Gareth on January 08, 2012, 06:59:05 PM
Sure that was the right back Neil Simpson but I might be wrong

Spent the summer we signed Cooper being him in kicks outs...never to be heard of again :-)
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Pete3206 on January 08, 2012, 07:01:16 PM
What a kit:

(http://www.footballcardsuk.com/cards/1987/4581-md.jpg)
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: Brend'Watkins on January 09, 2012, 03:46:33 PM
Ah Neale Cooper.

Think Stewart Downing and go directly to the opposite end of the scale.
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: old man villa fan on January 15, 2012, 07:01:00 PM
I remember going to a friendly at Celtic. Their fans were giving Cooper loads of stick. I asked one of them what their issue was with him. He told me that Neale Cooper was the dirtiest player in Scotland.
Just the man we wanted, I thought. The trouble was that he was dogged with injuries and we didn't see the best (or should it be worst?) of him.

I was at that game too.  Preseason friendly (or not!) and Cooper made his debut for us.  You are right about the stick Cooper got from the Celtic fans.  If Evra wasn't too pleased with Suarez, I wonder what Walters thought of the Celtic fans that day!!
Title: Re: Neale Cooper ......
Post by: pooligan on January 17, 2012, 04:35:38 AM
Although Neale Cooper hardly played for us,i remember him as one of the hardest players i have ever saw in a villa shirt.One of the memories i have of him is a reserve match against Coventry at Highfield Road and him dropping the nut on a Coventry player and getting away with it.
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