Tom Cooper succeeded Bill Morley as Long Eaton United Manager in May of 1963 after the former Nottingham Forest man's disappointing season in charge saw the club slump to 18th place in the Midland League.

Cooper had initially been brought to Long Eaton by Reg Harrison and Dennis McQuillan during the summer of 1960 and he soon established himself as United's first choice left back. However, during Morley's single season in charge he found himself cemented in the reserve side for the majority of the campaign, making only one first team appearance.

The committee clearly saw something in Cooper, which resulted in him being given the role and he became the clubs fifth Manager a few weeks short of his twenty-ninth birthday. Throughout his time as Manager he continued to play for the club.

It is apparent that he was a true football man and by the time he sent out his first United team in August 1963 he had introduced Roy Martin, Dave Taylor, Terry Blount, Eddie Hanson and Alan Poplar to the Long Eaton ranks. Each were to make a significant contribution to his first season in charge and an 8th place Midland League finish was a great improvement on the previous year. Most significantly, he brought Tony Watson back to the club and ensured that the Stapleford man led the attack from the outset. By today's standards, Watson's return was a master-stroke and he rewarded the Manager with a twenty-eight goal home-coming. Today, Cooper still recalls Watson's performances during 1963-64 with a smile and says that "Tony was one of the best headers of the ball in the Midland League'. Also returning to Grange Park at the start of Cooper's first season was Tony Hutchby, a player Cooper desrcribed as his 'best ever signing'.

Disappointingly, a poor second half to the season saw United's hopes dip dramatically after a top three position had seemed likely at the turn of the year.

The following season he steered the club to another eighth place finish as the team registered a ninety-goal return in their Midland League campaign, which still remains a club league record. Cooper had recruited strikers Johnny Birkbeck, Alan Nightingale, Alan Brown and Clive Burton and each recorded double figure goal tally's, with Birkbeck and Nightingale each scoring nineteen times. Unfortunately, the goals leaked at too regular intervals in the United rearguard and a title push was never likely. Despite that, success came in the Derby Senior Cup and Cooper was rewarded for his faith in his players when United beat Alfreton Town 1-nil in a stirring Final at the Baseball Ground in front of 3,200 spectators, recording the club's first significant cup success.

Prior to his years with Long Eaton United, Tom had been a Physical Training Instructor in the RAF and during his National Service he played football for his unit in the Isle of Man, Khartoum (Sudan) and Aden. Once on the books with Nottingham Forest, he later played for both IlkestonTownand Burton Albion before moving to Grange Park. After his six seasons at United he went on to play for Atherstone Town and Loughborough United. Though he never managed another club, he remains the manager with the longest serving run of games at the helm (182).

Outside of football, Tom worked as a Materials Manager at Rolls Royce until his retirement in the early 1990's. Locally, he was also a leading light at a branch of the Royal British Legion for over twenty years. Following his playing career he became a Class 1 Referee.

Today he lives in Littleover, though he has been suffering from particularly poor health for almost ten years.

Between the wars, Tom's father (also Tom Cooper) was regarded as "the best right-back in England', and played 398 games at the highest level for Liverpooland Derby County. He also played for England on fifteen occasions during a period when there were only three or four international callings a season. His regular right-half partner at Liverpool was Matt Busby and many felt that Tom Senior was destined for a management career with one of the leading club's of the day. Sadly, Tom Snr died in 1940 after a tragic accident as a Despatch Motorcyclist in the Military Police.