Player Profile

Neil Cooper joined Aberdeen straight from school in 1974 and made his debut as a fifteen year old in March 1975.
Despite this early debut he never really established himself at Pittodrie due to the number of quality defenders competing for places, and left in 1980 to join Barnsley.
Two years later and he was on the move again, this time to Grimsby Town, in March 1982.
It was his performances for Grimsby that prompted saints to splash £12,000 on securing his services in 1983.
Cooper made his debut the day after signing, on the 19th November 1983 at Love Street against Celtic. This was a memorable debut! Playing in the heart of Saints defence, he was tested from the start and within twenty minutes Celtic were 2-0 ahead! Things were to get better however, and come full time; he had played his part in a memorable comeback as St. Mirren recorded a 4-2 victory!
For the rest of that season Neil became a regular in the side, playing either in central defence or midfield.
He scored his first goals for the club in a Scottish Cup match against Meadowbank Thistle. His two goals earning a 2-2 draw.
He missed a large part of 1984-85 due to a niggling knee ligament injury, but was back in the heart of the team for the following season.
One match during the 1985-86 saw Cooper playing in goals during a Scottish Cup ¼ final against Hearts. Campbell Money had been taken off injured and Neil took over, but was unable to prevent a 4-1 defeat!
Revenge over Hearts was gained the following season when he played his part in a superb 2-1 Scottish Cup semi final win over the Tynecastle club. He followed this up by scoring his first league goal against Dundee United in April 1987 before the highlight of his career.
On the 16th May 1987 he lined up at Hampden Park for the Scottish Cup final against Dundee United. Along with his team mates, Cooper secured a 1-0 victory to bring the cup back to Paisley. He also won himself the sponsors’ man of the match award.
This victory led to possibly his best ever performance in a Saints strip when he controlled the team through a 0-0 draw against Cup Winners Cup opponents Mechelen in Belgium, during 1987-88.
Unfortunately a further injury led to him missing several games this season as well, but he still showed a cool head and leadership to the team and was appointed captain for the 1988-89 season which was to be his last at Love Street.
In August 1989 former manager Alex Miller, paid £60,000 to take Cooper to Hibernian.
In his time at Love Street he played in 190(five as sub) matches and scored four goals.