Mitch Cooper

Mitch Steven Baggio Cooper (born 18 September 1994) is a Ni-Vanuatu soccer player who played for Hume City in the National Premier Leagues Victoria.

Club Career

Gold Coast United

Cooper was called up to the senior squad of A-League club Gold Coast United in February 2012, aged seventeen. With regular captain Michael Thwaite suspended, club owner Clive Palmer named Cooper captain for the match against Melbourne Heart as a sign of the club's commitment to promoting young players. Coach Miron Bleiberg subsequently described the move as a symbolic one, claiming that more experienced players would effectively lead the side on the field. Palmer suspended Bleiberg from his role as a result of those comments, replacing him with assistant coach Mike Mulvey for the Heart match. Gold Coast lost the game 1–0 to a late goal from Eli Babalj. Bleiberg quit the club days later, saying that Palmer's actions had hurt his dignity.

In Gold Coast's next game, Cooper scored his first goal for the club, the side's third in a 3–3 draw with Central Coast Mariners. He described this as a "dream" start, saying that he had previously been focused on the National Youth League and that he had tried to ignore the controversy surrounding his debut captaincy. Gold Coast United lost its A-League operating licence the following week.

Newcastle Jets

On 25 May 2012, Cooper signed a two-year contract with the Newcastle Jets. He cited his respect for Jets coach Gary van Egmond, who he knew from his time in the Australia U-17s as a significant factor in this choice. Cooper suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee in the Jets' final game of the 2012–13 season, ruling him out for several months. He signed a one-year extension with the Jets in June 2013. Soon after returning to the field, he suffered a second ACL injury, this time to his left knee in a National Youth League game against Western Sydney Wanderers in January 2014. He returned to play in the Jets