Background
Cooper was born into a footballing family.
Cooper was born into a footballing family.
He is notable for playing for the South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL - now American Federation of Labor-Congress). His father Ron and several other relatives played top level football in Darwin. In 1968 Cooper moved to Melbourne to play for South Melbourne but was unable to play for the Swans immediately due to Northern Territory transfer rules.
He spent the 1968 season playing suburban football in Melbourne.
He made his league debut during the 1969 VFL season as a seventeen-year-old, becoming the first player from the Northern Territory to play in the VFL. After returning to Darwin, he played for Darwin Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL). He was best on ground in the Buffaloes" 1970/71 grand final-winning team
Cooper was coach of NTFL club Nightcliff for the 1986/87 season.