Nottingham Forest recently appointed former Swansea boss Steve Cooper as their new head coach on a two-year deal.
Following a disappointing start to the 2021/22 campaign by Chris Hughton the Forest board have now set their hopes onto Cooper to deliver success back to Forest.
Cooper is known for his passing style of play, and he prefers his players to be confident and comfortable on the ball and encourages brave play.
Here are three things you may not know about the Nottingham Forest head coach…
He was an early bird in coaching
Cooper started his coaching journey at Wrexham’s academy and as a player began doing his coaching badges and qualifications. He gained his UEFA Pro Licence at the tender age of 27 making him one of the youngest people to ever achieve the highest-level coaching badge available.
Cooper did also complete his FA Wales A licence as he took up a job as a coach educator, using his time to pass on his knowledge to up and coming aspiring coaches.
His Father’s role in the game
Cooper’s Dad had a big part to play in football as between the 1970s and 1990s – Keith Cooper was a football official. He began as a linesman in 1975 and soon worked his way up to be the man in the middle in the Premier League between 1993-1996.
Whilst he has been retired from officiating for multiple decades, he still appears on talkSport as a pundit sharing his views on modern football.
Cooper managed some of the best youngsters in the world
Cooper’s first major role as a manager was in the England youth set-up. He began in 2014 as the U16 manager and just a year later at the U17 level he was coaching players such as Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Having such a wealth of talent at his disposal will have definitely improved Cooper as a coach and developed his understanding and philosophy he has used to become successful as a football league manager at the age of 38.
