Colm Cooper
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Sport | Gaelic Football | ||
Position | Right corner-forward | ||
Born |
Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland | 3 June 1983||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Nickname | The Gooch | ||
Occupation | Bank official (AIB) | ||
Club(s) | |||
Years | Club | ||
2000–present | Dr Crokes | ||
Club titles | |||
Kerry titles | 8 | ||
Munster titles | 6 | ||
All-Ireland Titles | 1 | ||
Inter-county(ies)* | |||
Years | County | Apps (scores) | |
2002–2017 | Kerry | 85 (23–283) | |
Inter-county titles | |||
Munster titles | 9 | ||
All-Irelands | 5 | ||
NFL | 4 | ||
All Stars | 8 | ||
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 16:45, 4 April 2017. |
Colm "the Gooch" Cooper (born 3 June 1983) is an Irish Gaelic footballer whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen years from 2002 to 2017.[1]
Born in Killarney, County Kerry, Cooper was born into a strong Gaelic football family. His father, Mike Cooper, had a strong involvement with the Dr Crokes club, serving as a minor and junior selector. Colm's nephew Mark was a part of the 2018 All Ireland winning Kerry Minor team, a competition he himself never won.[2]
Cooper played competitive Gaelic football as a student at St Brendan's College; however, his tenure coincided with a downturn in fortunes for the college. He first appeared for the Dr. Crokes club at underage levels, before making his debut with the senior team in 2000. An All-Ireland medal winners with the club in 2017, Cooper has also won five Munster medals and six county senior championship medals.
Cooper made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he was selected for the Kerry minor team in 2000. He enjoyed one championship season with the minor team, culminating with the winning of a
After being chosen on the
Cooper was first selected for the
Even during his playing days Cooper came to be recognised as one of the greatest players of all time. He was named
Cooper released his autobiography called Gooch The Autobiography in October 2017.[7] On 27 October 2017, Cooper became the first GAA player to have a testimonial dinner which was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge.[8][9][10]
Playing career
Club
Cooper helped
Dr Crokes reached the Kerry Senior county final again in 2005 and 2006, but were defeated on both occasions by
In February 2014, Cooper suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in the
Inter-county
Cooper was first called up to the Kingdom team in 2002 and made his
In 2003 Kerry won a Munster Senior Football Championship, but were knocked out of the All-Ireland Championship by Tyrone at the semi-final stage losing by 0-13 to 0-6.[15]
2004 proved to be a good year for Cooper. Kerry won the
Kerry won their third consecutive Munster Championship in
In
In 2007 Cooper played with Kerry regaining their Munster Championship title after an enthralling game against
Kerry reached the
In
In April 2010, Cooper sustained a serious eye injury in an
The
The 2012 championship saw Kerry lose to Cork in the Munster semi-final but go on to play Donegal in the All-Ireland quarter-final on 5 August. Kerry lost the game by 1-12 to 1-10 with Cooper scoring four points.[24]
Kerry won the Munster Championship in 2013 with Cooper getting 1-3 in the final on 7 July at Fitzgerald Stadium. Kerry defeated Cavan in the All-Ireland quarter-finals before losing to Dublin in the semi-final by 3-18 to 3-11 with Cooper scoring four points in the game.
In February 2014, Cooper suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in the
Cooper won his eight Munster Championship medal on 18 July 2015 when Kerry defeated Cork in the final by 1-11 to 1-6 after a replay. They defeated
In 2016, Kerry reached the Munster Final again and played Tipperary, winning by 3-17 to 2-10. Cooper went off injured in the first half of the game with a collarbone injury. He missed the quarter final win against Clare but returned for the epic semi-final against Dublin on 28 August. Dublin won by 0-22 to 2-14 after coming back from conceding two first half goals. Cooper scored five points in what would turn out to be his last game for Kerry.[25]
On the 4 April 2017, Cooper announced his retirement from inter county football at the age of 33. In 85 Championship games for Kerry he scored 23 goals and 283 points, and in 60 league games he scored 12 goals and 165 points.[26][27][28][29][30][31]
International rules
Cooper has represented
Province
Cooper played for
Career statistics
Club
Team | Season | Kerr | Munster | All-Ireland | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | ||
Dr. Crokes | 2000–01 | 4 | 1-01 | — | — | 4 | 1-01 | ||
2001–02 | 3 | 0-05 | — | — | 3 | 0-05 | |||
2002–03 | 3 | 0-06 | — | — | 3 | 0-06 | |||
2003–04 | 2 | 1-11 | — | — | 2 | 1-11 | |||
2004–05 | 3 | 3-21 | — | — | 3 | 3-21 | |||
2005–06 | 5 | 5-19 | — | — | 5 | 5-19 | |||
2006–06 | 4 | 2-11 | 2 | 3-05 | 5 | 3-18 | 11 | 8-34 | |
2007–08 | 3 | 1-14 | — | — | 3 | 1-14 | |||
2008–09 | 3 | 2-10 | — | — | 3 | 2-10 | |||
2009–10 | 5 | 4-10 | — | — | 5 | 4-10 | |||
2010–11 | 5 | 4-27 | 3 | 2-08 | — | 8 | 6-35 | ||
2011–12 | 5 | 2-10 | 3 | 2-11 | 1 | 0-03 | 9 | 4-24 | |
2012–13 | 5 | 5-21 | 3 | 1-12 | 2 | 0-06 | 10 | 6-39 | |
2013–14 | 5 | 2-22 | 3 | 1-07 | 1 | 0-02 | 9 | 3-31 | |
2014–15 | 0 | 0-00 | — | — | 0 | 0-00 | |||
2015–16 | 3 | 2-09 | — | — | 3 | 2-09 | |||
2016–17 | 5 | 1-18 | 3 | 1-08 | 2 | 1-03 | 10 | 3-29 | |
2017–18 | 5 | 4-14 | 2 | 0-12 | — | 7 | 4-26 | ||
2018–19 | 5 | 0-09 | 3 | 0-04 | 2 | 0-01 | 10 | 0-14 | |
Career total | 73 | 39-238 | 22 | 10-67 | 13 | 4-33 | 108 | 53-338 |
Honours
- Dr Crokes
- Kerry
- All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (5): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2014
- Munster Senior Football Championship (9): 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011 (c), 2013 (c), 2015, 2016
- National Football League Division 1 (3): 2004, 2006, 2009
- National Football League Division 2 (1): 2002
- Munster Under-21 Football Championship(1): 2002
- Munster Minor Football Championship (1): 2001
- AIB Kerry
- All Ireland Interfirm Senior Football Championship (1): 2007
- Munster Interfirm Senior Football Championship (3): 2004, 2005, 2007
- Kerry Interfirm Senior Football Championship (4) 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008
- Individual
- All Stars Awards (8) 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013.
- Texaco Footballer of the Year (1) 2004
- The Munster Football team of the last 25 years [34]
References
- ^ "Colm Cooper calls time on Kerry career". RTE Sport. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "news-detail – Page 10043216 – Kerry GAA". Archived from the original on 6 September 2018.
- ^ "'The best ever', 'top class', 'the greatest of all time' - tributes paid as the Gooch retires". The 42. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Colm Cooper: A treasure coveted in every Kingdom". Irish Independent. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Tomás Ó Sé: Colm Cooper Kerry's 'greatest footballer'". RTE Sport. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Eamonn Fitzmaurice bids farewell to 'genius' Colm Cooper". Irish Examiner. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "'F**k this,' I say. 'I'm going for a few pints' - Colm Cooper on being dropped in 2009". Irish Independent. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ^ "'It's not a charity event' - Colm Cooper on what percentage of funds from testimonial dinner will go to good causes". Irish Independent. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ^ "Brolly sorry over Gooch testimonial furore". Irish Examiner. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ^ "Gooch deserves reward for his efforts, but are testimonials a step too far for amateur players?". Irish Independent. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ^ "Colm Cooper injury leaves Kerry plans in shreds". Irish Independent. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- ^ "Dr Crokes bring All-Ireland Club football title back to the Kingdom". Irish Examiner. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ^ "Colm Cooper completes the set with Dr Crokes glory". RTE Sport. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ^ "Plotting Colm Cooper's remarkable career through his 10 All-Ireland finals". The 42. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "On the tenth anniversary of the term 'puke football', why are Tyrone still seen as the black sheep?". Irish Times. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Touch of class: 13 goals that sum up what Colm Cooper was all about". The 42. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Thrilling Tyrone triumph a just reward for ground-breaking blueprint". Irish Independent. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Kerry win one-sided All-Ireland final". RTE Sport. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "2007 All-Ireland SFC final: Kerry trounce sad Cork". Hogan Stand. 16 September 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Kerry 0-16 Cork 1-09". RTE Sport. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Colm 'Gooch' Cooper: Five memorable moments". Irish Times. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 13 April 2010. Archived from the originalon 14 April 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- ^ "History repeats as Down deny Kerry". Irish Times. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Donegal 1-12 Kerry 1-10". Munster GAA. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "As it happened: Dublin edge out Kerry". RTE Sport. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Comment: For many, Gooch will rank as the greatest to have played the game". Irish Independent. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Colm Cooper calls time on his illustrious inter-county career". Kerry GAA. 4 April 2017. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Colm Cooper: 'It is very rare for people to achieve their ultimate dreams in life - I just have'". Irish Examiner. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Tomás Ó Sé: King of them all - Gooch deserved his happy ending". Irish Independent. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Eoin Liston: 'Gooch' was Messi, Federer and Ruby all rolled into one". Irish Independent. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ Hogan, Vincent (8 April 2017). "Colm Cooper meets Vincent Hogan - 'If I allowed any bit of sentiment, I'd be back with Kerry'". The Independent. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ "12 Colm Cooper moments that defined an illustrious Kerry career". Irish Independent. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Railway Cup: Munster Teams". Munster GAA. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "The Munster Football team of the last 25 years (1984-2009)". Munster GAA. 24 October 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2017.