Colm Cooper

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Colm "Gooch" Cooper (born June 3, 1983) is a Gaelic footballer from County Kerry in Ireland. He plays as a corner forward with the Dr. Crokes club and the Kerry county team.

[edit] Football career

Cooper is known nationwide by his nickname "The Gooch" which was allegedly given to him by former Dr. Crokes 'keeper Peter O'Brien for his supposed resemblance to a Goochy Doll. He burst onto the scene in 2002 after a solid performance in a National Football League game against Laois. He continued his rise in the following championship by with excellent performances against Wicklow, Kildare, Galway and Cork in the qualifiers before Kerry suffered a surprise defeat to Armagh. Again he was the star man for Kerry in 2003 before Kerry were again caught out by Tyrone, this time in the semi final. However in 2004 he finally won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship with Kerry after beating Mayo in the final with Colm putting in another excellent performance, scoring 1-05 including a superb individual goal where he fielded a high ball under pressure before taking on 3 defenders and slotting it into the Mayo net. In 2005, after a bright start to the final, Cooper was injured in a suspicious clash with Tyrone keeper Pascal McConnell which limited his involvement. Kerry crumbled 1-16 to 2-10. Cooper played in his 4th All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final on September 17, 2006 against Mayo. He was still only 23. Kerry ended up beating Mayo by 13 points and despite Mayo's best efforts he was a thorn in their side, creating scores and winning frees. He was Kerry's joint top scorer with a tally of (1-02). He has now scored 4 goals in 3 games against Mayo.

Cooper was nominated but not selected for an All Star in 2006. He was the Kerry captain for part of the 2006 All-Ireland senior football championship, although his team-mate Declan O'Sullivan was restored as team captain for the final in Croke Park, on September 17, 2006. On winning, the Sam Maguire Cup was lifted by both O' Sullivan and Cooper.

In 2007 Colm was instrumental in Kerry regaining their Munster Senior Football Championship title after an enthralling game against Cork. Having been quiet for long spells, he burst into life and in a 5 minute period scored 1-02 which effectively decided the game with a the score being 1-15 to 1-13. His footballing brain as much as his scoring have been highly praised so far in this years championship. In the recent games with Monaghan and Dublin Cooper has shown great ability to bring others into the game with seemingly impossible passes. Against Dublin in particular he scored 2 fantastic scores when Kerry were on the ropes in the first half and showed great composure and calmness on the ball at the end of the game when Dublin were coming back at Kerry who had relinquished a 6 point lead. Kerry prevailed on a scoreline of 1-15 to 0-16 Kerry faced their bitter rivals Cork in the first ever All-Munster Football Final. This was Kerry's 4th Final in a row, an unprecedented feat in the modern game and a scoreline of 3-13 to 1-09 did not flatter them as they demolished Cork to become the first team to retain the title since Cork themselves 17 years before. Colm got the goal that put Kerry in the driving seat, rising bravely to fist the ball over the onrushing Alan Quirke. Kerry ran riot in the second half and Cooper finished up with 1-05 in a performance that saw him nominated as one of three contenders for footballer of the year 2007 and secure another All Star award.

[edit] Club

Colm won the Kerry Senior Football Championship with Dr. Crokes in 2000 at the age of just 17. This over a year before his emergence onto the county team and he was one of the main reasons Crokes won this competition (although he was tightly marked in the final against An Ghaeltacht. Since then Crokes have appeared in two finals in 2005 and again in 2006, both times they were edged out by the mighty South Kerry who have now won three championships in a row. However, as South Kerry are a combination of various clubs in the South Kerry region, the Crokes got to represent Kerry in the All Ireland series this year. The Crokes had a very young but hungry team and were led by example by county players Cooper and Eoin Brosnan. They knocked out the famous Nemo Rangers club of Cork en route to the Munster Senior Club Football Championship title. From there, they defeated Moorefield to enter the final against former 3 time champions Crossmaglen. Crossmaglen were a very experienced side after claiming their eleventh straight Armagh Senior Football Championship title and boasted many of the county players. Despite this, Crokes (led again by Cooper) were the better side in the final and came back to lead by 4 points in the closing stages. However, a decision was made to move Cooper out the field to win more ball for the team and weather the onslaught from Crossmaglen. Cooper's presence in the inside forward line was greatly missed and resulted in most of the ball coming in being cleared almost immediately. In the final minute, Crossmaglen forced a replay which they won in controversial circumstance. Crossmaglen Rangers and Armagh man John McEntee was sent off but never left the field of play. Despite this, Crokes didn't appeal the result and Crossmaglen claimed their fourth All Ireland title.

[edit] Trivia

Cooper is equally strong with both feet and can kick accurately from anywhere in the pitch which has resulted in many of the games top players declaring him unmarkable within the rules of the game. Since he joined the Kerry setup they have either won the All Ireland or been beaten by the eventual winners in each year. Despite being only 24 he has had a remarkable career so far, appearing in 5 All Ireland Finals winning 3 and has 2 National League titles. He has scored a goal in each of the 3 finals he has won. A team he particularly enjoys playing is Mayo, he has scored 4 goals in 3 championship meetings against Mayo.

[edit] External links

• Dr. Crokes Official Website
• Official Kerry GAA Website
• 2006 All-Ireland Final