Kenneth Scott Cooper Jr. (born October 21, 1984) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward. He began his soccer career with Manchester United but failed to break through to the first team. He went on to play for clubs in Portugal, Germany, England, the United States, and Canada. Early life Cooper's father, Kenny Cooper Sr., played professional soccer as a goalkeeper in England before moving to the United States to play for Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League. Cooper was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and, under the mentorship of his father, he became an outstanding youth player. After retiring from coaching professional soccer, Cooper's father had settled the family in Dallas, Texas, where Cooper attended high school at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. He was the Dallas area high school player of the year while playing, graduating in 2003. Club career Manchester United While playing with the Dallas Solar 85 Soccer Club in the Dallas Cup, an international youth tournament, Cooper caught the attention of several former NASL players who contacted Jimmy Ryan, Director of Youth Football at Manchester United. Ryan had also once played with Cooper's father when they were both with the Tornado. Ryan contacted the Coopers and invited Kenny to England for a trial. The fact that Cooper's father was a native of England helped grease the skids for Cooper as United did not need to acquire a work permit for him. Following a successful week-long trial, United signed him on a free transfer. At the time Cooper had intended to attend Southern Methodist University, but decided to forgo playing college soccer in order to pursue his professional career. FC Dallas Cooper signed with FC Dallas on February 6, 2006, and made an immediate impact on the team. He made his first MLS appearance on April 1, 2006, and scored his first MLS career goal helping FC Dallas to a 3–2 victory against the Chicago Fire. Cooper made his first MLS start the following week against Real Salt Lake on April 8, 2006, scoring the team's first goal in a 2–1 victory. He finished his first MLS season tied for sixth in goals scored with 11 and made 31 appearances. At the start of the 2007 MLS Season, Cooper scored four goals in the first eight games before he suffered a broken right tibia in a 3–1 win against the