Kenny Cooper, Sr.

Kenny Cooper

Personal information
Full name	Kenneth Cooper
Date of birth	11 October 1946
Place of birth	Blackpool, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1969-70	Blackburn Rovers	0	(0)
1970-1979	Dallas Tornado	170	(0)
Teams managed
1979-1980	Houston Summit (indoor)
1980-1992	Baltimore Blast (indoor)
1992-1994	Baltimore Spirit (indoor)
1995-1996	Tampa Bay Terror (indoor)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02 June 2008. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 January 2007

Kenny Cooper Sr. (born October 11, 1946 in Blackpool, England) is a former English soccer goalkeeper and coach. He spent ten seasons playing for the Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League and eighteen seasons coaching indoor soccer. He was the 1984 and 1988 Major Indoor Soccer League Coach of the Year.

Coach

In 1979, Cooper retired from playing and was immediately hired to replace Timo Liekoski as the head coach of the Houston Summit of Major Indoor Soccer League. Cooper took the Summit to the 1980 MISL championship game, where it lost to the New York Arrows. In 1980, the team’s owner, Bernie Rodin, had decided to move the team to the east coast, but was unsure which city. He tasked Cooper with deciding between Baltimore and Boston. When Cooper arrived in Baltimore, he “was excited from the beginning. It just reminded me of Liverpool.” He returned to Houston and informed Rodin the team should relocate to Baltimore. In 1984, he coached the Blast to its only championship in the original MISL and was the 1984 and 1988 MISL Coach of the Year. Cooper also served as the Blast’s general manager. In 1992, the Blast folded along with the MISL. With the collapse of the Blast, Cooper was instrumental in the forming of the Baltimore Spirit in July 1992. The Spirit entered the indoor National Professional Soccer League. Cooper took the Spirit to the playoffs in both of his seasons as coach. In 1994, stepped down as head coach, but remained as the team president. In 1995, Cooper joined with Bill Collins, a minor-league baseball owner, to enter an exspansion team into the NPSL. He went on to serve as general manager and coach for the team, known as the Tampa Bay Terror. He took the team to a 14-26 record and was replaced by Perry Van der Beck for the 1996-1997 season.

Personal

He is the father of Kenny Cooper who is contracted as a forward for New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.

He and Mike Renshaw currently co-own a wine import business.

Honors

Championships

• NASL: 1971
• MISL: 1984

All Star

• First team: 1972, 1973
• Second team: 1975

Coach of the Year (MISL): 1984, 1989

External links

• NASL statistics and photos
• Dr. Pepper commercial featuring Cooper