Matty Cooper finished his career with a clean sheet in a day of tributes to the long-standing Trafford FC keeper.
The end of a five-year spell of 142 appearances with Trafford was marked with a guard of honour, applause from the Shawe View crowd and a special presentation on Saturday 22 April.
The season ended with a goalless draw against Runcorn Linnets – the same opposition Cooper made his debut against – which granted the veteran 35 clean sheets with Trafford.
“He’s top drawer, I can’t speak highly enough of Coops,” said Trafford’s Manager Danny Caldecott.
“His attitude, his commitment, he’s a leader. He epitomises this league. He’s everything you want in a keeper.
“That’s a massive position for us to try and fill in the summer but I’m also happy for him. He’s had a tremendous career at this level. He’s represented a lot of good football clubs and wherever he’s gone everybody’s spoken really highly of him which tells its own story of the player.”
‘List of targets’
A replacement for Cooper isn’t the only objective for the Manager over the summer. “We know who we want to retain at the football club, we know the direction we want to go in. We want to keep continuing to build, we’ve already got a list of targets we’d like to speak to in the summer. We are genuinely excited.”
Caldecott insists that a play-off position, building on the tenth-place finish this season, is a realistic target next year with the right additions to the squad and more experience for a young group of players who he says “have learnt a lot” in often difficult season.
“If we can keep the group of players together again and add a little bit more quality, we will be better again for it. We’ll be better equipped for the league and hopefully the play-offs.
“It’s now time to show that consistency and I believe that if we can do that, for even two thirds of the season, that would be enough to be in contention for the playoffs.”
‘Consistency’
The Manager does not shirk questions about the team’s consistency, describing it as the “Achilles” heel of this season.
“We’ve just not been consistent enough in each aspect of the season and that’s what’s really hurt us. You don’t go and win six games on the bounce through pure luck, but equally you don’t lose the amount of games we have without any luck.
“I understand the reasons why – this is only the group’s second season at this level and in this league. I understood when I took the job that the project we were going to start was going to be with younger players and with that comes mistakes. We have to accept that.
“I get frustrated more than anybody in this ground, believe you me, when we make mistakes and we concede goals and we don’t win football matches – because I know what we’re working with week in week out.”
One positive sign Caldecott pointed to was the spirit of the group to emerge from a disastrous run in the winter.
Arguably the most precarious moment of the season was with the team 2-0 down with fifteen minutes to go home to Glossop, days after the Boxing Day defeat to Ramsbottom, hovering above the relegation zone. The comeback that day was the “catalyst for us to produce the run of results that we did.”
