Thanks to Dave Rowntree for many of the player images after 1984.
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KENNY COOPER
Born: 21 October 1984
Came from: FC Dallas, USA Went to: FC Dallas, USA
First game: 06 February 2010 Last game: 10 April 2010
Appearances: 7 (0/7) Goals: 0
Cooper was born in Baltimore, Maryland and began his career playing youth football in Dallas, Texas, where his father was based. It was from there that he was spotted by Manchester United, and following a trial he moved to Old Trafford in the summer of 2004, where he spent two years without breaking into the first team. He had loan spells with Portuguese side Academica de Coimbra and Oldham Athletic during this time, before being released midway through the 2005-06 season.
Returning to the States he joined FC Dallas and scored 40 goals in three Major League Soccer (MLS) seasons and was voted into the MLS Best XI in 2008. He then moved to Germany with TSV 1860 München in August 2009, scoring on his debut, but a knee injury cost him his place in the team. He joined Argyle on loan for the second half of the 2009-10 season, the club agreeing an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the campaign. The move was perhaps no great surprise as Paul Mariner used his extensive contacts within the MSL, having been assistant-manager to Steve Nicol at New England Revolution for five years between 2004-2009 prior to his coaching appointment at Home Park.
A full international for the USA, Cooper did not require a work permit because his father, a former professional goalkeeper, was British. Kenny Cooper Senior was born in Blackpool and signed for Blackburn Rovers in 1969 but didn't make the first team, instead playing over 170 times for Dallas Tornado in the North American Soccer League and managing several Major Indoor Soccer League sides in the 1980s and 1990s.
Cooper Junior hoped the loan move to Home Park would improve his chances of making the USA's World Cup squad, but he failed to start a game during his stay and did not score in any of his appearances as a substitute, seemingly finding the step-up to Championship level too much, coupled with trying to regain full fitness. Argyle chose not to take up the transfer option and Cooper failed to make the USA squad for the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa, having been unable to add to the 10 caps he won (4 goals scored) between 2007-09.
Having left Plymouth he returned to Germany, but in January 2011, TSV 1860 München announced they had settled up his contract and he returned to the States and to the MLS to sign for Portland Timbers for their inaugural MLS season. He scored eight times in 34 games for the club in 2011 before moving to New York Red Bulls (33 games, 18 goals) a year later. In 2013 he returned to FC Dallas for a second spell (31 games, 6 goals) before signing for Seattle Sounders in 2014.
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APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
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