Brandon James Cooper (born 14 January 2000) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL League One club Leyton Orient. He is a former Wales Under-21 international.

Brandon Cooper
Personal information
Full name Brandon James Cooper[1]
Date of birth (2000-01-14) 14 January 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Porthcawl, Wales
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
Leyton Orient
Number 6
Youth career
2006–2018 Swansea City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2024 Swansea City 5 (0)
2020Yeovil Town (loan) 3 (0)
2020–2021Newport County (loan) 19 (1)
2022Swindon Town (loan) 8 (0)
2023Forest Green Rovers (loan) 21 (0)
2023–2024Leyton Orient (loan) 14 (0)
2024– Leyton Orient 18 (0)
International career
2018–2021 Wales U21 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 August 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:43, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Club career

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Swansea City

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Cooper has been at Swansea since the age of 6. He played for the Swansea under-18s and under-23s then signed a professional contract extension in March 2018.[2]

He was handed his debut for Swansea on 28 August 2018 in a 1–0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup.[3]

On 7 February 2020, Cooper joined National League side Yeovil Town on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.[4]

On 7 September 2020, Cooper joined League Two side Newport County on a season-long loan.[5] He made his debut for Newport on 8 September 2020 in the starting line up for a 1–0 EFL Trophy defeat to Cheltenham Town.[6] He made his football league debut on 12 September 2020 as a half time substitute for Matt Dolan in the 1–1 draw for Newport County against Scunthorpe United on the first day of the 2020–21 League Two season.[7] Cooper scored his first football league for Newport in a 2–1 League Two win against Harrogate Town on 31 October 2020.[8] Cooper was selected as the October 2020 EFL Young Player of the Month.[9] On 5 January 2021, Cooper's loan at Newport ended when he was recalled by Swansea.[10] On 29 January 2022, Cooper joined League Two side Swindon Town on loan for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.[11] Cooper made his Swindon debut in the starting line-up for a League Two 1–1 draw against Crawley Town on 2 February 2022.[12]

On 2 January 2023, Cooper signed for League One club Forest Green Rovers on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season.[13]

Leyton Orient

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On 1 September 2023, Cooper joined League One club Leyton Orient on loan until January 2024.[14] On 16 January 2024, he returned to Orient on a permanent basis, joining on a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[15]

International career

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Cooper received his first call-up to the Wales senior squad in March 2021 for the friendly match against Mexico and the World Cup qualifier against Czech Republic.[16]

Career statistics

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As of match played on 1 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Swansea City 2018–19[17] Championship 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
2019–20[18] Championship 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
2020–21[19] Championship 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2021–22[20] Championship 4 0 1 0 3 0 8 0
2022–23[21] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023–24[22] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 5 0 2 0 4 0 11 0
Swansea City U23 2018–19[17] 2[a] 0 2 0
Yeovil Town (loan) 2019–20[18] National League 3 0 0 0 3 0
Newport County (loan) 2020–21[19] League Two 19 1 2 0 3 0 1[a] 0 25 1
Swindon Town (loan) 2021–22[20] League Two 8 0 0 0 8 0
Forest Green Rovers (loan) 2022–23[21] League One 21 0 1 0 22 0
Leyton Orient (loan) 2023–24[22] League One 14 0 2 0 0 0 1[a] 0 17 0
Career total 70 1 7 0 7 0 4 0 87 1
  1. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

References

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  1. ^ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2019" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Cooper Signs new Swans deal". Swansea City FC. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  3. ^ Marsh, Philip (28 August 2018). "Swansea City 0–1 Crystal Palace". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Transfer | Brandon Cooper signs on loan". ytfc.net. Yeovil Town F.C. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 12 September 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Brandon Cooper joins Exiles on season-long loan deal". newport-county.co.uk. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  6. ^ Cooper Newport debut
  7. ^ Taylor Cooper league debut
  8. ^ Cooper scores for Newport
  9. ^ Cooper young player of the month
  10. ^ Cooper recalled
  11. ^ "Done Deal: Cooper is a Red!". Swindon Town FC. 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  12. ^ Cooper Swindon debut
  13. ^ "Cooper becomes first January addition". www.fgr.co.uk. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Brandon Cooper joins the O's on Deadline Day". www.leytonorient.com. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Brandon Cooper rejoins the O's on permanent deal". www.leytonorient.com. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  16. ^ Cooper Wales call up
  17. ^ a b "Games played by Brandon Cooper in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Games played by Brandon Cooper in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Games played by Brandon Cooper in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  20. ^ a b "Games played by Brandon Cooper in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Games played by Brandon Cooper in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  22. ^ a b "Games played by Brandon Cooper in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 October 2023.