Mitch Cooper
Ni-Vanuatu footballer (born 1994)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mitch Steven Baggio Cooper (born 18 September 1994) is a Ni-Vanuatu footballer who plays for Bayside Argonauts in the Victorian Premier League 2.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mitch Steven Baggio Cooper | ||
| Date of birth | 18 September 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Port Vila, Vanuatu | ||
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Bayside Argonauts | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2010–2012 | Gold Coast United | ||
| 2011 | QAS | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012 | Gold Coast United | 6 | (1) |
| 2012–2017 | Newcastle Jets | 33 | (1) |
| 2012 | Newcastle Jets NPL | 5 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Nunawading City | 27 | (18) |
| 2018–2019 | Green Gully | 17 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | Hume City | 23 | (6) |
| 2020 | Sunshine Coast Wanderers | 15 | (4) |
| 2021–2023 | Hume City | 47 | (6) |
| 2023– | Bayside Argonauts | 50 | (39) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011 | Australia U-17 | 4 | (0) |
| 2012 | Australia U-20 | 7 | (0) |
| 2019– | Vanuatu | 10 | (6) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 3 August 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 12 October 2024 | |||
Early life
Club career
Gold Coast United
Cooper was called up to the senior squad of A-League club Gold Coast United in February 2012, aged seventeen. With regular captain Michael Thwaite suspended, club owner Clive Palmer named Cooper captain for the match against Melbourne Heart as a sign of the club's commitment to promoting young players.[2] Coach Miron Bleiberg subsequently described the move as a symbolic one, claiming that more experienced players would effectively lead the side on the field.[3] Palmer suspended Bleiberg from his role as a result of those comments, replacing him with assistant coach Mike Mulvey for the Heart match.[4] Gold Coast lost the game 1–0 to a late goal from Eli Babalj.[5] Bleiberg quit the club days later, saying that Palmer's actions had hurt his dignity.[6]
In Gold Coast's next game, Cooper scored his first goal for the club, the side's third in a 3–3 draw with Central Coast Mariners.[7] He described this as a "dream" start, saying that he had previously been focused on the National Youth League and that he had tried to ignore the controversy surrounding his debut captaincy.[8] Gold Coast United lost its A-League operating licence the following week.[9] The loss of the license caused the FFA to scramble for a replacement team, resulting in the creation of the Western Sydney Wanderers FC.
Newcastle Jets
On 25 May 2012, Cooper signed a two-year contract with the Newcastle Jets.[10] He cited his respect for Jets coach Gary van Egmond, who he knew from his time in the Australia U-17s as a significant factor in this choice.[11] Cooper suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee in the Jets' final game of the 2012–13 season, ruling him out for several months.[12] He signed a one-year extension with the Jets in June 2013.[13] Soon after returning to the field, he suffered a second ACL injury, this time to his left knee in a National Youth League game against Western Sydney Wanderers in January 2014.[14] He returned to play in the Jets squad in December 2014.[15]
In March 2015, Cooper signed a further two-year deal with the Jets.[16] He scored his first goal for the club on 12 February 2016 with a header in a draw with Brisbane Roar.[17]
Cooper was one of three senior players omitted from the Jets squad for a pre-season tour of China in August 2016, with coach Scott Miller talking of moving some players out of the club.[18] However, Miller himself was fired in the next month, which Jets CEO Lawrie McKinna described as giving the players a fresh chance with a new coach.[19]
Nunawading City
Cooper signed for NPL Victoria 2 side Nunawading City for the 2017 season. Mitch scored his first goal for Nunawading against the Goulburn Valley Suns in Round 2 of the NPL2 East season; before scoring a header in a 5–2 win over Richmond SC.
Throughout the remainder of the season, Cooper scored 18 leagues goals (with 3 in the cup) totalling in 21 goals for the season, he'd be in the top 10 players for the Victorian NPL2 gold medal awards alongside former Newcastle Jets & Gold Coast United team-mate James Brown. He'd score 3 hat-tricks against the Casey Comets, Bendigo City & Melbourne City Youth.
International career
Cooper has represented the Australia national under-17 association football team including four matches at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[20] In March 2019, he was called up for Vanuatu national football team for the first time.[21]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 28 April 2017[22]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Gold Coast United | 2011–12 | A-League | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Newcastle Jets Youth | 2012[23] | Northern NSW State Football League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Newcastle Jets | 2012–13 | A-League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2013–14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | ||
| 2016–17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Newcastle Jets total | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||
| Nunawading City | 2017 | National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 | 23 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 21 |
| Total | 66 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 23 | ||
International goals
- Scores and results list Vanuatu's goal tally first.[24]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 15 July 2019 | National Soccer Stadium, Apia, Samoa |  Tonga | 5–0 | 14–0 | 2019 Pacific Games |
| 2. | 18 July 2019 |  Samoa | 1–0 | 11–0 | ||
| 3. | 2–0 | |||||
| 4. | 3–0 | |||||
| 5. | 4–0 | |||||
| 6. | 12 October 2024 | Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu | Samoa | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |