With apologies for reminding him, it's a quarter of a century since Colin Cooper signed for Middlesbrough as a Sedgefield schoolboy. So 400-plus appearances later, no one could begrudge him his benefit match against Serie A side Chievo on Saturday. In between time, it's been a Hell of a ride. From sweeping the stands to shutting Ayresome Park, from relegation to promotion, Millwall to Nottingham, England and Europe . . . Cooper has seen it all. "It's been an incredible journey, one I'm very proud of," he said. "I signed schoolboy forms at 14 and joined the YTS scheme at 16 but just to get in the door was the most important thing and once I was in, no one would ever be able to question my attitude and application to hard work." No kidding. "On the Monday after a first-team game we swept the stands of litter and during the summer we'd replace the shale around the outside of the track and paint all the woodwork - we were general dogs-bodies for the groundsman," Cooper added. "We had to clear up the kit and mop all the floors, we weren't allowed to leave the ground until it was spotless, and you also had a pro you had to have kit ready for in the morning - Stephen Bell was mine and he was only 18 or 19 himself! "But it gave you respect for your surroundings which, while it's probably right the kids don't have to do that anymore, I don't think they develop the same respect. "If you had to go into the first-team dressing-room, you knocked and asked permission to come in. It was intimidating, you were made to feel intimidated. "There were some really good lads but others who'd make your life Hell. It was just banter but the first-team dressing-room was a scary place." And one Cooper would become increasingly - if at first sporadically - acquainted with. "Willie Maddren was in charge of the youth team, saw something in me that he liked and switched me from a midfielder to a centre-half come sweeper," said Cooper. "I did well enough to get a professional contract at 17 and after I'd been in the reserves a while Willie, who had become first-team manager, dangled me a carrot. "He came up to me before a reserve game on a Monday and said if I played well I'd be in the first-team squad at Leeds on the Saturday. I was only part of the squad and felt completely out of my depth but you got such a buzz from being involved. "My actual debut came months later. It was a Full Members cup tie at Hull, I came on in extra time and was at fault for one of the goals in a 3-1 defeat. I was up against big Billy Whitehurst and he frightened the life out of me! "Then a few months later again I made my league debut at home to Hull. I played left-side of centre midfield, wore the number 10 shirt and got dragged off after an hour." So not the most promising of starts - and things would get worse before they got better. "I'd only played 12 first-team games when the club went into liquidation," recalls Cooper, by now a converted full-back. "I was scared, no two ways about it. You just thought `What's going to happen, what do you do?' "I wasn't thinking `I'm God's gift I've got it made', I was frightened to death, absolutely bricking it. "Bruce (Rioch) was great though, we kept training and he kept us focused, preparing us as normal for the new season without even knowing if he had a job himself. "It was a massive relief when we came through it and you've got to take your hat off to Bruce and Toddy (Colin Todd), they had 14 or 15 players and moulded us into a team. "We knew what we had to work with and got on with it. "We weren't world-beaters but a group of fairly gifted young men who worked hard, played football the right way and had a couple of promotions." Success had its price, however; new players arrived, Cooper was blighted by injury and in search of a new challenge left for Millwall then Nottingham Forest. "Nothing will ever compare to those first few years at Boro, you don't realise that until you go away," he said. "But I felt too comfortable and while it was difficult to leave, it was the right thing to do. I don't believe I'd have had the career I've had if I hadn't moved." Restored to central defence by Mick McCarthy, Rioch's successor at The Den, Cooper then won promotion at Forest and international recognition under Terry Venables. Then, Boro came calling again. "I was 31, Forest were offering me two years, then I got a call from Viv (Anderson) saying Robbo (Bryan Robson) wanted experienced players to give Boro at foothold in the Premiership," he said. "I don't think it would be the club it is today if Robbo hadn't done that, all he wanted was to give the club some stability. "Things went really well that season, and over the next few years and that's all down to Robbo. "Ultimately his last season wasn't quite so good and he got Terry (Venables) in to help out, which was very brave, but he'd made his mark." Enter Steve McClaren. "Steve came in and moved us on again, now and again you need someone with a slightly different perspective on things to keep on progressing," said Cooper, now reserve team boss. "The first thing Steve did which was a really inspired move was to bring Gareth (Southgate) in and install a level of ultimate professionalism. He was a shining example to everyone else who came through the club's doors. "Every year in the five Steve was here the team improved in some way or other. "The high-point was the Carling Cup which was wonderful, then finishing seventh the year after to qualify for Europe again and reaching the UEFA Cup final. "The jump to the next level is the hardest but we're here to do everything we can to make it possible. "In my opinion the club's made a very brave, bold decision in giving Gareth the opportunity to take this club on - but it's the right decision." | 
