Source: Northern_Echo
Saturday Spotlight: Treasured memories of my dad’s FA Cup exploits
Mark Cooper's managerial career has featured more than its fair share of memorable FA Cup highlights and he hopes to enjoy another today as Darlington take on York. Deputy Sports Editor Craig Stoddart speaks to the Quakers' boss ahead of today's tie at The Northern Echo Arena.[LNB] AT Middlesbrough in the late Seventies two FA Cup runs to the quarter-finals in consecutive seasons remain lasting memories.[LNB] Though not for Mark Cooper, son of England international Terry, who was Boro's left-back at the time after arriving from Leeds United, who struggles to recall the aforementioned victories.[LNB] Which is ironic, given that Mark, now Darlington manager, has gone on to carve out a career in which the undoubted highlights have been his FA Cup exploits.[LNB] Cooper Junior, however, does remember nicking sweets from his dad's shop in Billingham.[LNB] My dad had a sports shop when he was at Leeds and two newsagents in Middlesbrough which he did really well out of, says Cooper.[LNB] There was one in Billingham, in Whitehouse Road, and one in Acklam. My auntie and uncle came up from Leeds to run the shops and I used to go and pinch chocolate and sweets.[LNB] I watched matches at Ayresome Park and I remember playing football with the other players' kids underneath the stand after the match we weren't allowed on the pitch.[LNB] Jack Charlton's kids were there and there was Matthew Coddington, the goalkeeping coach's son, who went on to play for Darlington.[LNB] But we weren't in Middlesbrough long. We'd moved to Normanby, in a house on Cricket Lane, and I got home from school one day and my mam said You're going with your dad tonight to Bristol'.[LNB] We drove down that night and my dad spoke to Alan Dicks and Norman Hunter was there, who was my Godfather and big mates with my dad.[LNB] I can remember living in Middlesbrough but I don't remember the matches, I know more about what happened in Bristol.[LNB] Born in December 1968, Cooper was too young to enjoy his father's exploits during the glorious Don Revie era at Leeds and only ten years old when his dad left Boro for Bristol in 1978.[LNB] Although recollections of Boro's FA Cup runs are few, it was in the competition that Cooper Senior provided Mark with one of his treasured memories.[LNB] He says: The best day I had watching my dad was in the FA Cup in 1983. He was manager at Bristol City and they played Bristol Rovers where he'd been manager after Boro, but it was a bad time.[LNB] There was the Eastville fire I remember that very well. It was a Sunday and he got a phone call to say there was a fire at the ground. I went with him and I remember him going into the flames to get all the kit out. I was a young kid stood there panicking watching my dad go into the fire.[LNB] He left Rovers and a short while later, went to City and they were drawn to play each other in the Cup at Eastville.[LNB] City must have taken about 8,000 fans.[LNB] My dad played in that game and Bristol City scored in the last minute I've never seen an eruption like it.[LNB] Terry was City boss for six years, and Mark's time following City around the country with his dad became a football education.[LNB] Cooper, who would go on to play for 16 different clubs, admits that in those formative years he was a scholar of the game.[LNB] Watching matches whenever he could and hitching a lift on the team coach, Cooper was even drawing up scouting reports all of which suggests he was destined to follow his father's lead by becoming a player and then a manager.[LNB] Any chance I had, I used to go to watch training and in school holidays I'd be there all the time, says Cooper, 41. I'd muck in with the YTS lads, doing jobs and training. And on an evening I'd get the bus down to the ground to watch a reserve or youth team game.[LNB] I was a scholar of the game from a really young age. I'd make notes on the matches I'd seen at about ten or 12 years old.[LNB] I really enjoyed watching football, but my lad now is 13 and in the Academy at Birmingham, but he won't sit and watch a game. I'll be saying Watch this, watch Fabregas, watch Paul Scholes'.[LNB] Kids nowadays would rather be playing on their Xbox, but I used to love watching a match and watching certain players to see what they did.[LNB] Thirty years on and that dedication to observing other teams remain.[LNB] Cooper has twice been to see York ahead of today's muchanticipated FA Cup tie, while he made the trek to Plymouth to see Bristol Rovers before the previous round.[LNB] The outcome was a 2-1 win Darlington's first cup win against a team from a higher division for 12 years.[LNB] Yet creating cup history is nothing new to the man who has won 16 of his 26 ties in the world's favourite knockout competition.[LNB] While boss at Tamworth and Kettering he became renowned for recording shock results against the likes of Bournemouth, Lincoln, Notts County and Hartlepool (twice).[LNB] In 2005-06, Cooper's Tamworth held Stoke to a goalless draw, losing the replay in a penalty shoot-out, and two years ago his Kettering side gave Fulham a fright in the fourth round before losing 4-2.[LNB] Although not entirely enamoured by his cup specialist' tag he'd rather be known simply as a good manager in both league and cup Cooper readily admits that the competition helped him become a Championship manager, albeit briefly.[LNB] This time last year he was about to take the reins for a short-lived spell at Peterborough after knocking out Hartlepool.[LNB] He said: The cup wins aren't a fluke. Any time we get a good result it's because we work hard when we prepare for a game. But you have to have a bit of luck along the way.[LNB] We prepare really in-depth and when you play a league team in the cup you get plenty of time to see them play.[LNB] I went to Plymouth to see Bristol Rovers and we managed to get proper DVDs in advance.[LNB] I've told the players that these games can help your career. It helped me get the chance to manage in the Championship.[LNB] It might help you get a contract here or the other week, when we played Bristol Rovers, I told the players You play well and the Bristol manager might be impressed'.[LNB] That's how it happens, so they've got to take every opportunity.[LNB] I think players enjoy the cup because they can thrust themselves into the limelight and get themselves on television. And the further they go in the competition, they might earn themselves a little bonus.[LNB] Aside from offering an opportunity for career advancement, on a personal note it provides Cooper a rare chance to achieve relative success in comparison to his father, who was not so lucky in the cup.[LNB] Though, Cooper Junior is happy to admit his dad was the better player.[LNB] Cooper Senior earned 20 England caps and was voted his country's best player at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.[LNB] But during the attacking left-back's 13 years at Elland Road, Leeds reached four finals and he appeared in only one, the 1970 defeat to Chelsea after a replay at Old Trafford.[LNB] When you see it on television, the winner comes after a long throw from Ian Hutchinson to the six-yard box and Osgood smashes my dad into the net, says Mark.[LNB] But he scored the winner in the League Cup final against Arsenal in 1968 at Wembley.[LNB] It was a volley he'd dreamt about it the night before or something.[LNB] Cooper Senior avoided the ignominy of defeat to Sunderland in 1973 due to injury, the same reason he also missed the Wembley win over Arsenal in 1972, but he was part of the side humbled in the fifth round by Colchester in 1971.[LNB] That remains one of the competition's most infamous results, while as a manager he rarely progressed through the rounds.[LNB] Not that younger Cooper takes any satisfaction in his cup success compared to his father.[LNB] Nor does he tire of the comparisons with his dad, who now lives in Tenerife after ending his management days in 1995 at Exeter.[LNB] I don't mind talking about him, I am proud of him, he was a great player, says Cooper.[LNB] I remember playing junior football, at about ten or 11, and parents shouting You'll never be as good as your dad'.[LNB] But not many ever were in his position.[LNB] I have watched a few of his games from 1970. I was showing my lad on the internet a couple of weeks ago the Brazil game. He got done before Gordon Banks made that save but for the rest of the game he was fantastic.[LNB] If you put his name into Google there's an England game that comes up at Wembley against Scotland and he's playing against Billy Bremner, his mate from Leeds.[LNB] My dad kept torturing the Scotland right-back, nutmegging him and all sorts.[LNB] I was showing my lad it and I could see him sat there stunned, saying That's grandad!'.[LNB] Should Cooper oversee a win today, in front of the Arena's biggest crowd of the season, there would be similar celebrations to that which Cooper witnessed at Eastville in 83 as Darlington fans have not seen their team win a second-round tie since 2002.[LNB] Such is the club's poor record in the competition, already this season, in beating Mossley and Bristol Rovers, Quakers have recorded more FA Cup wins than they had in the previous seven seasons combined.[LNB] The miserable run is in stark contrast to Cooper's colourful history in the competition which has not been restricted to merely surprise wins.[LNB] His first ever goal was in the cup while, as he wound down his playing days at Forest Green, Cooper was heavily involved in a tie with Macclesfield that ended 11-10 on penalties.[LNB] Cooper scored from the spot in the first game, missed a penalty in the replay and then twice found the net during the marathon shoot-out.[LNB] He added: I used to watch the cup final every year. You'd get up and watch the build-up all day from about 10 o'clock and I used to love it.[LNB] The first final I remember was 1976 because I was there, Liverpool v Man United. I went with my uncle. We travelled from Middlesbrough in his little Austin Maxi all the way to London and it felt like it took about 15 years to get there.[LNB] My first goal was in the FA Cup but I didn't ever get very far through the rounds. And yes it bothered me.[LNB] He added: Stoke's probably the biggest achievement.[LNB] Tamworth were part-time and we drew 0-0 with a club that were in the top five or six in the Championship.[LNB] We even missed a chance to win it in the last minute.[LNB] In the replay we were 1-0 up with not long to play but lost on penalties.[LNB] The Fulham one was disappointing because it was 2-2 with six minutes to go and the referee, Mike Riley, should've sent off (Brede) Hangeland.[LNB] Fulham brought on Bobby Zamora and Danny Murphy. I looked at Roy Hodgson and said Give us a chance, Roy.[LNB] Give us a replay at least!'''[LNB] HALF-SEASON TICKETS OFFER[LNB] DARLINGTON are offering the perfect Christmas present for fans with a halfseason ticket.[LNB] The 11-game offer, which begins with the visit of Fleetwood Town on Boxing Day, enables supporters to make significant savings on match tickets.[LNB] And Quakers boss Mark Cooper is urging those who are not already season ticket holders to get on board for the second half of the campaign.[LNB] The second half of this season is going to be crucial, said Cooper.[LNB] I've said from the start, if we can stay within touching distance of the chasing pack up to Christmas, then we've got every chance of finishing in the top five, which is the ultimate aim.[LNB] Having more fans inside the Arena getting behind the lads will have a massive effect and I can't stress enough how appreciated it would be by the players, and how important it could be.[LNB] Our fans have a huge, huge part to play. They could hold the key to this club getting back to the Football League.[LNB] The 11-game ticket includes home games against Wimbledon, York, Mansfield and Rushden and Diamonds, as well as the visits of Fleetwood, Barrow, Kettering, Eastbourne Borough, Cambridge United, Altrincham and Bath City.[LNB] An adult XI-game ticket costs £144, which works out at just over £13 per match and represents a saving of £54 if paying match-by-match.[LNB] The Over-60s ticket is £90 (£8 per match, saving £42) and the Under-16s ticket is £45 (£4 per match, saving £10). The Ron Greener adult ticket is £171, Ron Greener O-60s £117 and the Ron Greener U-16s is just £72.[LNB] XI-GAME TICKET Adults £144 (saving £54); Over-60s £90 (£42); Under-16s £45 (£10); Ron Greener adult £171 (£60); Ron Greener O-60s £117 (£48); Ron Greener U-16s £72 (£16) Fans have until Christmas Eve to take advantage of the prices. Matchday prices are £18 adults, £12 concessions and £5 under-16s and under-10s. The half season ticket is available from the club now, or call the ticket office on 0871-855-1883.[LNB]
