The midfielder joined the Edgeley Park club permanently that summer for £150,000 and went on to make 173 appearances in total over almost four seasons.

However, he ended the season by being signed by his former Stockport manager Dave Jones, now at Wolverhampton Wanderers, for £1 million in March 2002.

Wolves eventually lost to Norwich City, despite Cooper scoring a spectacular long range goal in the second leg.

However, he requested a transfer for more playing time,[7] and was signed again by Dave Jones, newly appointed at fellow Championship club Cardiff City, in July 2005.

He stayed at Cardiff through the summer but again found himself only in the reserve squad at the start of the year, so he joined League One side Tranmere Rovers on a one-month loan in October 2007.

He scored a candidate for goal of the season in late 2010 as he chipped Newtown goalkeeper Dave Roberts from the halfway line at Latham Park.

On 4 November 2015, fellow Challenge League side FC Wil announced that they signed Cooper on a contract that would keep him at the club until 2017.