One man whose absence will be keenly felt at Aberdeen’s 40th anniversary celebrations on May 11 is Neale Cooper.
The youngest Gothenburg Great, Cooper died in May 2018 at the age of 54.
A storyteller, dressing room joker and the heart of the Aberdeen engine room, Cooper’s Gothenburg team-mates was a much-loved and dearly missed member of the Dons’ all-conquering side of the 1980s.
Here some of his former team-mates recall their memories of the man known as Tattie:
Neil Simpson
“November 24th is his birthday which is when we’re having a dinner. That will be a night for reflection and celebration for us.
“He was a warrior on the park (but) Neale was the best laugh. His giggle was enough to set everyone off around him.
“I do remember in the dressing room when Fergie was at the tactics board and every time he said something Alex McLeish would make a funny face behind his back.
“Poor Neale couldn’t take his eyes off Alex and as it went on his ability to keep a straight face evaporated and eventually he couldn’t control himself and he burst out laughing.
“Fergie was furious, calling Neale everything under the sun, calling him an idiot and he could do nothing but sit there and take it.
“But as soon as it was time to go on the pitch, he was in the zone and ready to go.
“He was a great team-mate. Cooper and Simpson, Simpson and Cooper – it was said all the time. We played a lot of big games together and we looked after each other.
“Technically (he was) a really good player. Good in the air and he could have played at the back or in midfield.
“He was a great player and somebody you could rely on. If you were in difficulty, he was right beside you to offer support.”
John Hewitt
“I couldn’t tell you his stories!
“Neale and I were friends for such a long, long time, from when we were little kids – we grew up together.
“Neale was at Airyhall Primary then Hazlehead Academy, and I was at Cornhill and then Hilton.
“We were ball boys together at Pittodrie, and then we played for the Aberdeen primary school select together and then the secondary school select – where Lenny (Taylor?) and Bobby Clark were heavily involved with the coaching – and then, ultimately, Aberdeen together.
“We played for the youths, under-21s and then were roommates for 10 years with the first-team, so we’ve been everywhere together.
“You can imagine I can tell you loads of stories, which I won’t.
“He was just such an infectious character, everybody who knew Neale would tell you exactly the same.
“He just lit up a room. He could be in a room 20 seconds and he’d have people laughing, that’s just the person he was.
“It’s sad. We all miss him and just wish he was with us, because he was a huge part of the group.”
Peter Weir
“Tattie was a great guy.
“For a young kid to come into our dressing room, the confidence he had was unbelievable.
“The stories he had were amazing. He used to come in every Monday morning with the tales of what he had gotten up to since Saturday afternoon and it was hilarious.
“I can’t actually repeat most of them because you can imagine what he was like, but let’s just say he had us all in stitches.
“He was an amazing, fantastic person and I miss him so much. We all do. He was a wonderful guy and it was such a shock to lose him.
“I’m not scared to say I was in tears at the service in Aberdeen. He was a fantastic character and a great player.
“When we needed someone to sort out a hard man from another team, Tattie was our guy.
“He was one in a million.”
Jim Leighton
“Everybody thinks about Neale as the joker, full of life. He broke into that team at 16.
“How difficult was it for anybody, no matter what age they were, to break into that team?
“He did it at 16, which says a lot about him.
“He was up to everything. If you were away in airports, he’d do something stupid to pass the time.
“On the bus he would take the microphone and impersonate Fergie and Archie – there was never a dull moment.”
John McMaster
“The players were all part of the family. I had three young boys and Neale came up to the house to try to sell hi-fi stereo units. He stayed all afternoon talking the kids.
“That’s the way it was – we were family. We all supported each other and trusted each other.
“If anyone was struggling, they’d get pelters or an arm round the shoulder.
“He was a funny big boy.
“Even at a young age, he was a decent player.
“At 13, we thought he was going to be a sweeper, but he ended up being a sweeper in midfield.
“He would have loved being right at the heart of all of this leading the way.”
Alex McLeish
“He was the youngest and we all badly miss him – he was a wonderful kid.
“When I first met him he was still a boy.
“I saw him for the first time when he was in the car park and he looked almost like a male model.
“And he was pinging the ball about like he was Franz Beckenbauer.
“I thought: ‘wow.’ That was my first impressions of big Tattie.
“We were sad to lose him and he will forever be in our memory.”
Mark McGhee
“Neale is missed by us all.
“He is someone that everyone loved, and that is not a word I use lightly.
“Tattie was a sensationally unique individual and a fantastic person.
“We all loved him.”
Gordon Strachan
“The strange thing is the best of us goes first.
“My son Gavin worked with Neale at Hartlepool when he was manager there.
“He said every day was fun and you couldn’t stop laughing. Gavin thought he was hilarious.
“Neale looked after Gavin at a point when life wasn’t that great for him. He was very good for Gavin.
“Lesley (Strachan’s wife) loved Neale’s patter and fun.
“The Strachans owe Neale Cooper a lot. Neale was as nice a person as I ever met.
“If you are fortunate enough to have met Neale, you were lucky.”
Eric Black
“I knew Tattie since he was about 14 when I started going down as an ‘S’ Form.
“And at that time, he was a shining light.
“The expectations of the club for him, which was not always said, and even at the national level and youth team level… I remember (long-time Scotland age-group boss and later senior Scotland manager) Andy Roxburgh speaking so highly about the potential he had to be something very, very special.
“I think he would have gone on to be one of the top centre-backs in Europe potentially, but he had two top centre-backs in front of him.
“Then adapting into midfield, he again showed his ability because he went straight into midfield as if he was a natural midfield player.
“His use of the ball, his size and his athleticism… He had everything the modern midfielder has.
“He was a very, very capable footballer.”
Black added: “Anytime you were in his company, you were always happy. There was always a laugh and a giggle. And I think that helped enormously – more than you would imagine, when, you know, he was coming through as a professional footballer and coming into a club.
“He had a big a big influence for the young players. And he was massively respected, because of his play, by the older players.
“He was just a sensational individual and had a gift, which not too many do, of walking into a room and being able to lift the atmosphere – and that could have been at halftime at Celtic Park or wherever.
“He was a special person.”
Willie Miller
“The first time I saw Tattie he was 14, and he would go on to play an absolutely huge part in the success we had in the eighties.
“He was so important both on the pitch and off it.
“Behind the scenes, it was so important to have a bit of humour in the dressing room and on the training field.
“You have to go through the hard work and dedication, which Tattie had along with his undoubted footballing talents.
“He also brought a humour to that group of players as there was never a dull moment when he was around, whether that was a Monday morning when you are trying to work off the rigours of the weekend’s game and get focused.
“When Tattie hit the training field, there was always a joke and laugh. He kept our spirits up – that was his personality.
“Tattie would also often imitate the manager after Sir Alex had one of his famous rants at us.
“The minute Sir Alex was out the room, Tattie would give us a rendition of what we had heard by imitating it. That lifted the room, that’s for sure.
“It can be quite intense when Sir Alex was having a rant.
“Yes you have to take it. If it is deserved, fair enough.
“But at the same time you have to quickly turn that around and get on with preparing yourself for the next game.
“To do that you have to lighten the atmosphere a wee bit.
“And Tattie did that with his personality, impressions and by laughing and joking.”
Miller added: “It was quite a combination with Tattie’s outstanding abilities on the field and his undoubted qualities off it as well.”
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