Keith Cooper is a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 former football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 referee in the English Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 and Premier League, and was also on the Welsh FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 list. During his time on the List he was based in Pontypridd

Pontypridd

Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...

.

Career

Cooper became a Football League linesman in 1975. Two years later he was included on the Supplementary List of referees at the age of only twenty nine. This was the last year that a supplementary list operated - ever since, referees have been promoted directly to the full List. He did not gain promotion for the following season and indeed had to wait another four years before reaching the Referees' List for season 1982-83.

By the late 1980s he was a frequent performer in the top division. He was not selected initially for the new Premier League in 1992 but in January 1993 he made the breakthrough with a match between Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, and remained one of its referees for the rest of his career. His most senior domestic match was the 1994 League Cup Final between Aston Villa and Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

. Villa won this game 3-1, their last goal coming from a Dean Saunders

Dean Saunders

Dean Nicholas Saunders is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers....

 penalty

Penalty kick

A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

 after Andrei Kanchelskis

Andrei Kanchelskis

Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis is a Ukrainian-born Russian football manager and former association footballer who played as a right winger. Kanchelskis is the only player in history to have scored in each of the Glasgow, Merseyside and Manchester local derbies.Currently, he is managing FC...

 had handled on the line and was dismissed.^†

Cooper completed two more seasons, operating entirely in the Premier League and Cups (as was standard for Premier referees at the time) before retiring in 1996. He later became a Football League assessor.

At international level he handled a number of matches, including a European Championship qualifier

1988 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying

This page describes the qualifying procedure for UEFA Euro 1988.-Groups:The draw for the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 1988 took place in early 1986. West Germany qualified automatically as hosts of the competition...

 between the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland national football team

The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....

 and Luxembourg

Luxembourg national football team

The Luxembourg national football team is the national football team of Luxembourg, and is controlled by the Luxembourg Football Federation. The team play most of their home matches at the Stade Josy Barthel, in Luxembourg.- History :...

 in September 1987.

Retirement

Upon retirement, Cooper became Referees’ Officer for Wales. He has now retired from that position, and has contributed to radio broadcasts as a football pundit. He currently makes regular appearances on the Talk Sport radio station, usually giving his opinion of recent refereeing decisions. He is known for his frank views, such as being in favour of returning to the old off-side rules.. He also announces for Cardiff City

Cardiff city

Cardiff City may refer to:* Cardiff city centre* Cardiff City Council* Cardiff City F.C.* Cardiff City L.F.C.* Cardiff City Stadium...

's website Cardiff City World.
He also works in education within Torfaen and Caerphilly County Borough Councils, working with children with special needs, especially children with sight problems.

Print

• Football League Handbooks, 1975–1981
• Rothmans Football Handbooks, 1982–1996
• ^†Rothmans Football Handbook (1994) 1994-1995, Headline, p22
• Ionescu, Romeo (2003), The Complete Results & Line-Ups of the European Football Championships 1958-2003, Soccer Books Limited

External links

• Keith Cooper Referee Statistics (incomplete and partially erroneous) at soccerbase.com