Exclusive: Birmingham City set sights on appointing Mark Cooper
Birmingham City Under-21s have a concrete interest in former Yeovil Town and Forest Green Rovers manager Mark Cooper, sources have told Football Insider.
The 57-year-old, who has been out of work since he was sacked by Yeovil in August, is in contention to take over as the club’s new Under-21s manager.
Cooper spent a year with the Blues as a player, making 39 appearances and scoring four goals before moving on to Fulham.
Birmingham confirmed last week that Mark Kennedy has departed after eight months in charge of the U21s.
The 49-year-old guided the young Blues to the Premier League 2, but has been replaced by Danny Barham on an interim basis after the club confirmed that he had departed.
Mark Cooper looking to kick start his career
Cooper’s managerial career began with Tamworth in 2003, where he was appointed as a player/assistant manager.
The former midfielder would soon become manager, but left in 2007 with the side struggling in the Conference League.
Roles at Kettering Town, Peterborough, Darlington and several others came and went until Cooper was appointed by Forest Green Rovers in 2016.
| Mark Cooper | Forest Green Rovers |
| Wins | 101 |
| Draws | 59 |
| Losses | 89 |
| Scored | 366 |
| Conceded | 339 |
At the time, the club were in the National League and had narrowly missed out on promotion to the EFL.
The following season, however, Cooper took charge and led Forest Green Rovers to League Two for the first time in the club’s history after beating Tranmere Rovers in the 2017 play-off final.
The Gloucestershire-based club stayed in the league throughout the Englishman’s tenure, almost making it to League One in 2019 when they were, ironically, denied by Tranmere in the play-off semi-finals.
Cooper was dismissed in 2021, and later went on to manage Yeovil. The Glovers won National League South under his guidance, but he was sacked after a decline in form.
The 57-year-old will now look for a fresh start as he attempts to restore his reputation, and that opportunity could well come with Birmingham’s U21s.
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What Yeovil fans said after Cooper sacking
There was mixed reaction to Cooper’s departure from Yeovil at the start of the season.
Many were supportive of the decision, with the manager disliked by some part of the fanbase, who were not fans of his style of football.
Others had fond recent memories of the manager’s time, however, and were disappointed by the announcement.
“Not easy to sack a manager this early, but certainly the correct decision,” wrote one fan on social media. “Mark simply wasn’t liked amongst the players and fan base”.
Another fan, however, wrote: “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t …big mistake”.