From a Pompey academy graduate to a likely role at Liverpool, via three playing stints at PO4 and lengthy periods at AFC Bournemouth as both a player and coach.
He emerged from Pompey’s academy and went on to have three separate spells at Fratton Park.
But it was away from PO4 where Isle of Wight lad Shaun Cooper settled with the rump of his career spent at AFC Bournemouth, where he picked up 240 appearances across a seven-year spell.
Liverpool the likely destination for Cooper after Slot exit
And it’s the Cherries who’ve afforded the 42-year-old the chance to forge a coaching career, as a 17-year stay in the professional ranks came to a close in 2017.
But now the former Blues defender could be poised for a dream opportunity, as he’s lined up to become part of a new-look first-team set-up at Liverpool.
And set to join him at Anfield is a name familiar to Pompey fans in recent weeks, with Bristol City target Tommy Elphick also pencilled in to move to Merseyside.
Both men are being touted to follow Andoni Iraola to Liverpool from Bournemouth, with an agreement reportedly in place for the Spaniard to succeed Arne Slot after his sacking last weekend.
Elphick’s name was prominent along with John Mousinho’s in terms of the Ashton Gate post, before the Robins appointed Michael Skubala last week.
Cooper made seven first team appearances for Pompey at the back end of the 2001-02 season, after Harry Redknapp’s arrival in the second tier.
The 42-year-old never appeared in the first team after those outings but remained at PO4 until 2005, with the Newport man moving on to Dean Court.
Cooper came back to Pompey in 2012 with the club in disarray, but was on the scoresheet that memorable afternoon in April of that year as play-off chasing Sheffield United were defeated as the club’s transition into community ownership was confirmed.
Shaun Cooper as a Pompey youngster in 2002placeholder image
Shaun Cooper as a Pompey youngster in 2002 | Getty Images
He later returned for a third stint in League Two in the 2013-14 campaign, totalling 33 first team appearances for the club in total.
He’s built a reputation for set-piece quality in that time, but is likely to join Liverpool as an assistant to Iraola.
Cooper moving to the Premier League giants will deepen a significant Pompey connection at Anfield.
Shaun Cooper, right, and Tommy Elphick are set to follow Andoni Iraola to Liverpool. Pic: Gettyplaceholder image
Shaun Cooper, right, and Tommy Elphick are set to follow Andoni Iraola to Liverpool. Pic: Getty | AFP via Getty Images
Edwards, known as Prozone Eddie in his Fratton days, is now the power behind the throne at Liverpool as chief executive football for the club’s owners Fenway Sports Group.
The club’s assistant sporting director, David Woodfine, spent over five years at Pompey as an analyst and then head of performance analysis before going to West Ham and then on to Liverpool in 2014.
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