He died with his boots on - the Davie Cooper Story

Last updated : 18 March 2005 By Grandmaster Suck

His talent shone out and drew an affection all of it's own
- stronger because he never courted fame. He was something special.

We've all got our own favourite memories of Davie Cooper - when I
close my eyes and think of him I see him hunched over a ball looking a
defender in the face, weight shifted over his left foot enticing the
defender to commit himself to the tackle, the shimmy that would take
him past about to be performed, for all the times he did it, for all
the times they studied him, he still suckered them.

Other memories are of him blasting that League Cup final free kick
into the Aberdeen net, of him striding up the pitch after scoring with
his little finger wagging in victory. Although I wasn't present at
the Drybourgh Cup Final where he scored that wonderful keepy-up goal
taking the ball over the heads of three Celtic defenders that is
another treasured memory of the Coop's genius. That old grainy
amateur film of him doing that one seems to have come from a different
age - happy days.

We should have had another afternoon or two of Coop's magic to enjoy.
Earlier this year he announced that he was retiring from football at
the end of this season. We had an article written which was due to go
in this issue listing those Clydebank games which didn't clash with
Rangers ones and were going to encourage Bears to go along and give
the Coop a good send-off.

There are yet more memories of Coop which no video and no camera can
capture - that buzz of expectation which rang around the stadium when
he got the ball and everyone knew he was going to do something
special. Of those days when the catch-phrase amongst the crowd was
"skin him Davie" as he inevitably nutmegged or swam past opponents.
Of the way he moved the ball along by running his studs over the top
of it. Of the force of tens of thousands singing "Davie, Davie,
Davie Cooper on the wing" as he raced forward.

My own personal favourite memory was of the League Cup semi final 2nd
leg against Dundee United at Ibrox back in 1984 - in the first 20
minutes of the second half I saw the best individual performance I've
seen of any player where I have personally been present. He ripped
them apart. At one point there were three United players on their
bums as he jinked and swerved, one mistimed a tackle and his two pals
simply lost their balance trying to work out what the Coop was up to
as he dragged them one way then another. Magic.

There were journalists who wrote "I cried" articles about Davie. Some
of them seemed sincere - some were just jumping on a bandwagon. A
funeral is a place for women and children to cry and men to act as
men. At the fans memorial to Davie at the stadium gates and on the
route of his funeral cortege I must admit I felt a lump in my throat.
The silence of thousands standing in tribute mattered more than any
words.

Why did Davie Cooper matter so much? It was his talent. He had that
something special - I'm not going to say he was better than Pele, Best
or Law or any of that over-the-top nonsense. Position for position he
was in their league. But more than that - he stayed with the team he
loved when he could have made more money elsewhere. There was a
period of about five seasons when the Coop's talents were wasted in a
Rangers team which rarely showed much ambition, yet he stayed - and we
never forgot his loyalty. That was one of the tragedies of Davie
Cooper - he played his prime years in a team where there were few, if
any, of the same calibre.

The other tragedy was of course his death at such an early age. In
that death however there was something poignant - he died with his
boots on - filming a training session to pass on his skills to others.
There's never a good time to die - there's always things you wish
you'd said or done - but if Davie could have chosen how to go I'm sure
he'd have preferred the way he did.

The Davie Cooper story was filled with great achievements and
outrageous talent - the sadness should not obscure the fact that he
achieved what most can only ever dream of. In his last interview he
wrote his own epitaph:-

"I think the Continent may have suited me with the amount of time you get on the ball.
But I don't look back - I was a Rangers supporter and I spent the
bulk of my career at the team I loved.
You take your chances - I had a great career - I've enjoyed every
minute of it."