Leeds United centre-back Liam Cooper is set to leave the club upon the expiry of his contract this summer, ending 10 years at Elland Road in the process.
The side that won promotion at Elland Road in 2020 is no longer intact at all as four years have passed, with emotional farewells coming ever since.
Standing strong has been Liam Cooper, coming into this season still as club captain and refusing to leave the club as others jumped ship.
With his contract due to expire at the end of June, he will no doubt be reflecting on an incredibly fruitful period at Leeds since joining in 2014 from Chesterfield.
Here, we look at the top five moments from Cooper’s Leeds career…
5th: First Leeds United goal
Cooper was one of the domestic signings made in the 2014 summer window as Massimo Cellino went signing crazy.
He flew well under the radar in the process, but was unsurprisingly one of the more steady names in the squad.
It didn’t take too long for the centre-back to find his first goal for Leeds, coming in the 3-1 home win over Blackpool in November 2014, bringing down a high pass before leathering in from the edge of the box in front of the Kop.
That strike was the first of 11 for the Scottish defender at Leeds, and arguably his best.
4th: First time wearing Leeds captain’s armband
Much like scoring his first goal for Leeds took very little time, he was captain of the side not long after this, in the same season.
By this point in the 14/15 season, we have seen the back of Dave Hockaday and Darkko Milanic – underlining how long Cooper has been here to begin with – and Neil Redfearn was at the helm for the remainder of the season.
In the process, he looked much more focused on the youth of the side and the local lads benefitted, with Cooper getting the armband of his boyhood club for the first time in January 2015, in a 1-0 loss away at Sunderland in the FA Cup.
At the age of 23, he skippered the side for the majority of the games he played for the rest of the season.
3rd: Captain of Leeds United in the Premier League
It’s all well and good being the skipper of a side that was turgid for years with very few good characters present in the squad.
However, it’s another thing altogether being the player leading the side out during the best era since 2004’s relegation, as Marcelo Bielsa’s captain.
Missing the first game of the 20/21 season due to injury, Cooper came back into the lineup and was key to the side’s return to the top flight being so joyous, with massive results across the season seeing Leeds finish ninth.
2nd: Reaching 10 years at his boyhood club
This season didn’t end the way that Cooper would have dreamed of, with his deal expiring and the hope that his last act at the club was leading the side to promotion, even if he’s been bit-part.
That said, the fact that he’s made it to 10 years is something that very few players can boast that they’ve done at Elland Road.
It’s rare in the modern game that players amass such a career with one club, and it’s a testament to the defender.
1st: Lifting Championship title in 2020
Of course, what is undoubtedly the best moment of Cooper’s career was being the man to lift the Championship title in 2020.
Leeds won the league under Bielsa in remarkable circumstances and Cooper was again key at the heart of a very strong defence.
Not many Leeds players have had the privilege of donning the armband, let alone lifting silverware on top of that, but Cooper is one of them.
That Bielsa team is going to live in the memory forever amongst fans, and Cooper captained them, which is something he’s no doubt incredibly proud of.
