Career
lieutenant was Street Kilda"s first and (as of 2014) only VFL/American Federation of Labor-Congress premiership by a margin of one point over Collingwood. Cooper"s VFL career was cut short by rheumatic fever. In 1970 and 1971, Cooper played for Swan Districts in the West Australian National Football League, and was a Western Australian state representative player.
In 1972, he returned to Victoria and became a prominent full forward with the Sandringham Football Club in the Victorian Football Association, where he played 35 games and kicked 73 goals.
In 1973, he kicked 104 goals to be the VFA Division 1 leading goalkicker for the home-and-away season, although he was passed in the finals by Jim "Frosty" Miller. Altogether, Cooper played 56 games for Sandringham between 1972 and 1975, and kicked 282 goals.
