Former Pools boss Neale Cooper dies

Cooper, a member of the Aberdeen team who won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983, had been taken to hospital after Police Scotland were called to a report of a man who had collapsed within a communal stairwell in the Ferguson Court area of Bucksburn, Aberdeen, at around 1.45am on Sunday.

Aberdeen wrote on their official Twitter account: “The club is deeply shocked and saddened to hear that our legendary midfielder and Gothenburg Great, Neale Cooper has tragically passed away.”

Cooper, who was 54, also played for Aston Villa, Rangers, Reading, Dunfermline and Ross County before managing the latter team and also Pools, Gillingham and Peterhead.

Popular Cooper was at the helm during Pools’ most successful period in recent times which ended in the club reaching the League One play off final at Cardiff in 2005.

More than 16,000 Poolies made the trip to the Millennium Stadium when Pools were just minutes away from promotion to the Championship.

Last June, the Scot suffered a heart attack in Aberdeen.

He had a stent fitted into a blocked artery and posted a picture of himself recovering in hospital on social media.