FOOTBALL stars of four generations paid tribute to Rangers and Scotland legend Davie Cooper as a bronze statue of the wing wizard was unveiled in his home town yesterday.
The accolade from the townsfolk of Hamilton in Lanarkshire comes four years after the he died in hospital from a brain haemorrhage in 1995 after collapsing at Broadwood Stadium.
Cooper's former Rangers and Scotland team mate Ally McCoist, who brought along 10-month-old son Argyle Cooper McCoist, performed the official unveiling of the #36,000 statue, close to the town centre as more than 100 people looked on. The artwork was funded by South Lanarkshire Council who have spent #100,000 to set up a footballing academy of excellence for boy and girl footballers.
The statue stands beside sports pitches at Hamilton Palace where it is hoped Coopers of the future will train. The location is three miles away from Hillhouse housing scheme where he grew up - always with a football at his feet.
Among the football starts present were former Celtic and Scotland captain Paul McStay, Scotland coach Craig Brown, former Celtic winger Jimmy Johnstone and former Rangers stars John Brown, Ian Ferguson and Ally Dawson.
Rangers' captain of the 1960s, Bobby Shearer, was also at the unveiling ceremony with Hamilton Accies manager Colin Miller, Clydebank coach Ian McCall and Motherwell manager Billy Davies.
Cooper's widowed-mother Jean, 76, and his ex-wife Christine were also at the ceremony.
Scotland boss Craig Brown described the winger's talent as ''magnificent''. But he revealed that as assistant manger of Motherwell in the 1970s he could have signed Cooper from Clydebank for just a few thousand pounds, but passed up the chance.
He said: ''We sent a scout to check him out. But the report came back saying that he had a poor right foot, poor heading and poor tackling ability along with only moderate speed. We never signed him and that taught me a lesson in football of how wrong you can be. Davie honed is skills on the streets of Hamilton and became an exceptional footballer.''
Cooper's brother, John, said: ''The unveiling was a proud moment for the whole family.''
Later widow Mrs Cooper said: ''It is just a very proud moment. I'm very grateful to the council and the people who turned up. It's very moving for me because it tells me that not only was Davie so well known, but he was also known to be a very nice person. This statue means he will be remembered for a very long time to come and I really appreciate that.''
The bronze statue was created by sculptor Kenny Mackay, 33, who works for Glasgow-based Scot Associates. He studied video footage and photographs of Cooper to create the life-sized statue and said that the task of recreating Davie Cooper was ''daunting''.
He said: ''Davie Cooper was so well known that I knew this was going to be an exceptional project. In a way it's a bit like an artist commissioned to paint the Queen Mother.''
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