England U17s Glory & Promotion – City’s New Manager Profiled
The Welshman, born in Pontypridd, started his coaching career at Wrexham, where his playing career also began, but honed his skills and tactical nous during time with Liverpool between 2008 and 2014.
Managing the Reds’ academy, he also took charge of various age groups, most notably overseeing the Under-18s’ run to the FA Youth Cup Semi-Finals in 2012/13, coaching a squad which featured England international Raheem Sterling.
Initially joining the FA later that year, he became England’s Under-16s coach in 2014, reaching the UEFA EURO U17 Championship Final three years later, and the semi-finals in 2018.
One highlight of his career was to lead the Young Lions’ Under-17s side to FIFA World Cup glory in India in 2017, overcoming Spain 5-2 in the final, with a team that included two players currently at EURO 2024 in Phil Foden and Marc Guehi.
His record in the latter stages of international youth tournaments alerted the attention of Sky Bet Championship outfit Swansea City, who appointed the Wales native as manager in the summer of 2019.
Quickly impressing as a progressive head coach, Cooper won the Manager of the Month award during his first campaign at the Swansea.com Stadium, reward for an unbeaten start to the season.
Top of the table after six matches, it was the club’s best opening to a campaign in over four decades. Working with another future England star in Conor Gallagher, a top-six spot was sealed on the final day of the season, before narrowly losing out to Brentford in the two-legged play-off semi-final.
The following season saw Cooper surpass a century of games in charge and also ended with a play-off berth secured, finishing fourth. Brentford again stood in the Swans’ way of a Premier League return, this time in the final at Wembley Stadium, and it was the Bees who triumphed in the capital.
Leaving Swansea that summer, the 44-year-old most recently spent just over two years at Nottingham Forest, masterminding promotion from the Championship, via the play-offs, despite being positioned at the bottom of the second-tier standings when he took over early that season.
Victory over Huddersfield Town at Wembley banished memories of Cooper’s previous play-off disappointments and he successfully kept the East Midlands club in the Premier League the following season.
The first time that feat had been achieved at the City Ground since 1996, he then departed the Reds in December last year.
Now at the helm at King Power Stadium, Cooper will lead Leicester into the Club’s top-flight return, which begins with the visit of Tottenham Hotspur to Filbert Way on Monday 19 August.