John Thomas Cooper (21 February 1889 – 20 September 1917) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
| Jack Cooper | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | John Thomas Cooper | ||
| Date of birth | 21 February 1889 | ||
| Place of birth | Fitzroy North, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 20 September 1917 (aged 28) | ||
| Place of death | Menin Road Ridge, Polygon Wood, Passchendaele salient, Belgium | ||
| Original team(s) | North Fitzroy Juniors | ||
| Debut | Round 1, 1907, Fitzroy vs. Collingwood, at Victoria Park | ||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Weight | 78 kg (172 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1907–1915 | Fitzroy | 136 (8) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1915. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
He was killed on the Menin Road Ridge whilst serving in the First AIF during the Battle of Passchendaele.
Early life
editJack Cooper was the son of Fred and Florence Cooper. He was born in Fitzroy North on 21 February 1889, and he attended the Alfred Crescent State School in Fitzroy North.[1] In his youth he was a fine cricketer as well as a highly talented footballer, and went on to be a regular player with the Fitzroy Footballers Cricket Club.[2]
He worked for the company of Fitzroy Football Club's president, D.J. "Don" Chandler, as a storeman.[3]
He and his wife, Margaret Malcolm Cooper, née Fletcher, resided at 38 York Street, Fitzroy North, and had one daughter, Margaret Isabel "Maggie" Cooper (1908–?), who became a teacher.
Footballer
edit
The Herald, 21 September 1934.[4]
A somewhat thick-set man at 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) and 12 st 4 lb (78 kg), Cooper was a champion half-back. Recruited from the local team North Fitzroy Juniors, he played his first senior VFL game for the Fitzroy Football Club against Collingwood on 27 April 1907 at Victoria Park. In his first season, he played 11 matches and scored 1 goal.[5]
In 1912, after he had been appointed captain of the Fitzroy senior team,a contemporary report spoke of the tough, speedy, skilful, and tenacious Cooper as follows:
It would be difficult to select a back man to beat him, although he is rather on the small side. He makes up for his lack of inches with tenacity and pluck.
He sticks to his man all day with a stubbornness commendable to fighter or footballer. He has great dash – the quality of being able to get to the ball in the lead, which all true backmen must have – and he can handle the ball when he reaches it. Handling a football when running is a fine art. The finished player nowadays does not grab the ball with both hands when he reaches it. He scoops it up, as it were, with one hand, as he continues his run.
Anybody can pick up a football when he has plenty of time to seize it, but the crack player must be able to pick up the ball without relaxing his speed. Cooper is an expert at handling the ball but, above all, he is a battler.[6]
He played in the Fitzroy team that won the 1913 premiership[7] by defeating St Kilda 7.14 (56) to 5.13 (43) in the 1913 Grand Final Match;[8] he was one of Fitzroy's best players in that match.[3] He was the Fitzroy club's best and fairest player in both the 1911 and 1914 seasons (see Fitzroy FC honour roll#1910–1919), and he was the Fitzroy team captain in 1912, and its vice-captain from 1913 to 1915.
He also played eight games for Victoria,[3] including the match against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval on 10 August 1912, when he captained the Victorian team that lost to South Australia 9.8 (62) to 6.7 (43).[9]
In his career with Fitzroy he played 136 senior games and scored 8 goals.[10]
He played his last senior VFL game for Fitzroy on Saturday 11 September 1915, in the 1915 Preliminary Final,[11] that was won by Carlton 6.18 (54) to 5.8 (38).[12]
Dealings with VFL Tribunal
editHe was reported once in his playing career, in the 14 August 1909 match against Carlton at the Brunswick Street Oval, for charging and striking; he was suspended for 12 weeks.[13]
In the 26 June 1915 match against Carlton at the Brunswick Street Oval, a former Fitzroy player, the Carlton centre half-back and team captain Billy Dick,[15] was reported for striking Cooper; Dick was suspended for 10 weeks.[16]
Soldier
editLeaving his employment as a storeman, he enlisted in the 8th Battalion of the First AIF on 8 November 1915[17] and left for France on the troopship Wiltshire on 7 March 1916.[18]
In France, Cooper saw action in the Battle of the Somme. He was only in the trenches for a short time when he was so badly gassed that once his immediate discomfort had been dealt with, he was repatriated to England to allow him to recuperate.[19]
Having recuperated fully, he played for the (losing) Australian Training Units team in the famous "Pioneer Exhibition Game" of Australian Rules football, held in London, in October 1916, just before returning to active service in France. A news film was taken at the match.[20][21]
Most likely through the effects of the gas, Cooper's throat continued to give him a lot of trouble (he almost lost his voice) and, once again, he was repatriated to England.[19]
Although he was sent to Aldershot for officer training,[19] he never rose above the rank of Lance-Corporal.
Death
editHe returned to France once more and was killed in action in Belgium, at Polygon Wood, during the Battle of Passchendaele on 20 September 1917.
His remains were never recovered. He is commemorated in the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium; and his name appears at panel 52 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial.[22]
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Main & Allen (2002), p.39. Photograph of Alfred Crescent School, Fitzroy North, circa 1908 Archived 2 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Main & Allen (2002), p.40.
- ^ a b c Main & Allen, D., (2002), p.41.
- ^ 'Enthusiast', "Best Ever in Victoria (Letter to the Editor)", The (Melbourne) Herald, (Saturday, 22 September 1934), p. 30.
- ^ AFL Player Statistics (Round by Round): Fitzroy Football Club 1907 Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Main & Allen (2002), p.40; although they are quoting directly from what they characterize as a "contemporary report", Main & Allen do not provide any further identification of their source.
- ^ "AFL Player Statistics (Round by Round): Fitzroy Football Club 1913". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
- ^ AFL Statistics 1913 Season Finals.
- ^ Ross (1996), pp.79,93.
- ^ AFL Statistics: Jack Cooper.
- ^ "AFL Player Statistics (Round by Round): Fitzroy Football Club 1915". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
- ^ AFL Statistics 1915 Season Finals.
- ^ AFL Tribunal Records 1909 Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Detail of Organised by Australian Olympic swimmer Lieutenant Frank Beaurepaire, etc., in the collection of the Australian War Memorial (Accession number: H16688).
- ^ Dick had played 53 senior games and kicked 40 goals in three seasons with Fitzroy (1908–1910) before transferring to Carlton, where he played another 100 senior games and kicked another 35 goals (1911–1918) Blueseum Biography: Billy Dick; Full Points Footy Biography: Billy Dick Archived 4 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine; AFL Statistics: Billy Dick.
- ^ AFL Tribunal Records 1915 Archived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine; Blueseum Match Report: Round 10, 1915.
- ^ He was in the intake referred to as the Fifteenth Reinforcements First World War Embarkation Roll: Private John Thomas Cooper (4753).
- ^ First AIF, 1st Division, 2nd Brigade, 8th Battalion (Victoria).
- ^ a b c Main & Allen, D., (2002), p.42.
- ^ The original newsreel: Australian Football (Pathé Newsreel, 1916) on YouTube
- ^ The 2019 remastered and colourised version of the original newsreel: Australian Football (Pathé Newsreel, 1916), remastered and colourised version (2019) on YouTube
- ^ Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty Details: Cooper, John Thomas (4753).
References
edit- Photographs at A Victorian Trio, The (Adelaide) Evening Journal, (Friday, 9 August 1912), p.1, and second from right, seated, in second row at File:Fitzroy_fc_1913.jpg.
- Pioneer Exhibition Game Australian Football: in aid of British and French Red Cross Societies: 3rd Australian Division v. Australian Training Units at Queen's Club, West Kensington, on Saturday, October 28th, 1916, at 3pm, Wightman & Co., (London), 1919.
- Main, J. & Allen, D., "Cooper, Jack", pp. 39–42 in Main, J. & Allen, D., Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War, Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002. ISBN 1-74095-010-0
- Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0
- Footballers in Action: Jack Cooper, The Winner, (Wednesday, 6 December 1916), p.8.
- First World War Embarkation Roll: Private John Thomas Cooper (4753), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
- First World War Nominal Roll: Lance-Corporal John Thomas Cooper (4753), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
- First World War Service Record: Lance-Corporal John Thomas Cooper (4753), National Archives of Australia.
- In Memoriam: On Active Service: Cooper, The Argus, (Saturday, 20 September 1919), p.17.
- Australian Casualties: List No.350: Victoria: Killed in Action (Cooper, J.T., North Fitzroy, 20/9/17), The Argus, (Tuesday, 6 November 1917), p.6.
- Roll of Honour: Lance-Corporal John Thomas Cooper (4753), Australian War Memorial.
External links
edit
- Jack Cooper's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Jack Cooper at AustralianFootball.com
- AFL Player Statistics (Round by Round): Fitzroy Football Club 1907
- Photograph of Alfred Crescent School, Fitzroy North, circa 1908
- AFL Statistics 1913 Season Finals
- AFL Player Statistics (Round by Round): Fitzroy Football Club 1913
- AFL Statistics 1915 Season Finals
- AFL Player Statistics (Round by Round): Fitzroy Football Club 1915