“My Mother tried to get me to do more school work, but I wanted to play football every single moment of every day.”
Davie Cooper
From an early age, Davie Cooper was hooked on football and spent most of his spare time with a ball at his feet. When he wasn’t playing he would go to watch Rangers at Ibrox and he was soon emersed in the beautiful game. By his early teens he was picking up silverware and playing for local side Udston United, before joining Hamilton Avondale a few years later.
Whilst at Avondale, his talent progressed, and a number of clubs were interested in signing him. English sides Crystal Palace and Coventry City came calling, but Davie was a hometown boy and the thought of leaving Hamilton let alone go down to England put him off the idea. In Scotland, Clyde, Motherwell and Shawfield approached Cooper, but circumstances and Davies lack of enthusiasm to play outside of Hamilton put an end to there enquires. Indeed, such was Coopers affection for his hometown that the two short train journeys to Clydebank’s ground were enough to put him off signing for them! Unbelievable as it may seem now, frustrated with not being able to find a suitable club in the right location, at the age of 18 Cooper threw in the towel and stopped playing altogether.
On hearing this, the owners of Avondale contacted Clydebank to warn them that the talented youngster was in danger of falling out the game. Jack Steedman, chairman of Clydebank, had already tried to sign Cooper and failed. However, he was persistent in his endeavours to sign the talented winger and in a story that has now become legendary he got his man. Steedamn pulled up, in his flash Jaguar, outside the printing works in which Davie was working. He asked to speak to Davie and Cooper made his way out to the car for a chat. Steedman laid it on thick trying to persuade Davie to join the club; offering a good basic wage and the prospect of regular first team football if he played well. To clinch the deal he pulled out an envelope containing £300 in grubby, used bank notes (according to popular myth the previous nights takings from the social club's fruit machine) and offered it as a signing on fee! Keen to get back into the game and encouraged by Steedmans desire to sign him Cooper agreed to join the “Bankies”:
"...when your faced with that kind of enthusiasm it's difficult not to feel wanted. Deep down I knew I was desperately keen to start playing again."
In somewhat bizarre circumstances, the wheels had been set in motion for a long and glittering career.
