Colin Cooper's playing career began and ended at Middlesbrough, where he played well over 300 games in defence, either at centre half of left back. In between these two spells, he spent two years at Millwall and a five-year stint at Nottingham Forest, where his form earned him two England caps. When he retired from playing in June 2006, Cooper was given a job with the Middlesbrough coaching staff, and he spent four years there working with the first team and reserves before being relieved of his duties by manager Gordon Strachan. He had a six month spell at Bradford City in the following year as assistant to Peter Jackson, taking charge of the first team for one match when Jackson resigned in August 2011. A month later, Cooper was back at Middlesbrough when he took up a role within the Riverside club's academy. On 24th May 2013, Cooper was named as the new manager at the Vic, replacing John Hughes who had paid the price for relegation. Micky Barron also left Pools at this time, creating a vacancy for assistant manager, which Cooper filled with the appointment of his former Middlesbrough teammate Craig Hignett. It was a tough start for the new management team as the team struggled with life back in the basement division, but Cooper and Hignett's philosophy slowly began to bear fruit. The team produced a great burst of form in October and another in the new year, and sat just outside the playoff positions in early March. Sadly, the wheels then fell off. Hignett left the club to take a job as assistant to Aitor Karanka at Middlesbrough, and the team's form collapsed, with six consecutive defeats dropping them from playoff dreamers to the nightmare of a relegation battle. A bank holiday comeback victory against Morecambe removed those fears but it remained a very disappointing season. In addition to the poor league showing, a lot of the season's standout performers - Christian Burgess, Luke Williams, Jack Barmby, Matty Dolan - were loan players who would not return in 2014/15. Of the club's own young talent: Jack Baldwin was sold to Peterborough in the last hour of the January 2014 transfer window, while a number of clubs remained interested in star forward Luke James. Cooper was going to have his work cut out. The 2014/15 season began poorly, with Pools struggling for goals at one end and shipping too many at the other. Cooper once more used the loan market to bolster the squad, with half a dozen temporary signings making their way to the Vic in the first couple of months of the season. History repeated itself on the last day of the August transfer window, with Peterborough again tempting one of the club's young stars - Luke James - away from the Vic. Cooper was coming under increasing pressure by this point, with a number of fans starting to make their voices heard against manager and owners alike. A pivotal game against fellow strugglers Carlisle United saw Pools collapse to a 3-0 home defeat and drop to the bottom of the league. It proved to be the final straw for Colin Cooper, who tendered his resignation within an hour of the final whistle.