John Cooper had been

“the best inside-right in the Birmingham League,”

the Echo reckoned, when he joined the Saints, along with his fellow-Darlaston goal-ace, Henry Johnson. A host of clubs, including Manchester United, Cardiff City, and Sunderland, had been after the pair of them, but it was Southampton who secured their services in time for the inaugural season of Division III(S). While Johnson would get some opportunities at inside-left, Cooper was understudying Arthur Dominy, who would miss only three games across that promotion season of 1921-22 and the following season in the Second Division. John had to be content with scoring regularly for the Reserves – 24 times in 52 appearances in the Southern League. He played his last game for the Saints at home to Notts County in December 1922 (see scrapbook section) and was subsequently placed on the transfer list ithe following May with a £200 price tag around his neck. He returned to play in the Birmingham League with Darlaston. In the 1939 mini. census he declared himself a foreman coach trimmer.