Everyone at Cheltenham Town was deeply saddened to hear of the recent passing of Tony Cooper, who was an important player for the club during the 1970s.
Tony was born in Gloucester and spent time with Bristol City as a young player before landing a job as a toolmaker at Smiths Industries (now GE) and joining Bishop's Cleeve.
He was Cleeve's top scorer in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League in the 1968-69 season and was invited to try his luck with Cheltenham by manager Bob Etheridge at the start of the 1969 pre-season programme.
Tony made his first team debut in a Southern League Cup match against Hereford United in August 1969 and quickly established himself in the first team as an attacking midfield player or forward, who could play either wide or up front.
He signed his first contract with the Robins in November 1969 and was described as a hard-working, determined and courageous player with genuine pace who operated mostly as a right winger but could also fill a number of other positions of required.
He was a regular in the side between 1969 and 1975 as the team narrowly missed out on promotion to the Southern League Premier Division on a number of occasions.
In total he made 196 starting appearances and scored 24 goals in all competitions, his most prolific season being the 1971-72 campaign when he played wide on the right with Richard Wilkes on the left-hand side and between them the two wingers contributed 13 goals while supplying the ammunition for the legendary Dave Lewis to score 18 times.
After leaving Cheltenham Tony played for Gloucester City and Ledbury Town before having a spell as player-manager of Harrow Hill back in the Northern Senior League. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his friends and family at this sad time.
We will be remembering Tony and all those associated with the club we have lost in 2023 during a one minute's applause before the home match against Reading.