On Friday 19th March 2004, Norwich boss Nigel Worthington welcomed a new face to Colney following a sudden overnight swoop for Wolves midfielder Kevin Cooper.

The 29-year-old former Derby, Stockport and Wimbledon player joined the Canaries on loan until the end of the season after suddenly curtailing his current loan deal at Sunderland in order to team up with his former Wolves pal Marc Edworthy for the final 10 games of City's season. After being stuck in the queue for places behind Black Cats star Julio Arca, Cooper was delighted to be in with a chance of regular first-team action after a thoroughly frustrating season.

"It's been a case of going from one end of the country to the other, but this is a great opportunity for me to get something out of a season that appeared to be going nowhere."

Cooper's fortunes took a turn for the worse when he sustained a serious ankle injury in Wolves' second game of the season against Charlton. Ever since, he had been playing catch-up, with the Canaries hoping that they will reap the benefit of Cooper's return to full fitness and obvious eagerness to make his mark somewhere this campaign.

He's got a quality left foot, can get at people, come inside and score a goal - as we know from the play-offs," said Worthington, Cooper having almost dented Norwich's chances of a place in the Division One play-off final at Cardiff two years ago with the only goal of the semi-final, second leg at Molineux. That strike had lingered long in the City manager's memory as he revealed that Cooper had figured large in his thoughts long before the decision to add Cooper's experience to the right-hand side of the City midfield.

"He was someone we'd considered before we brought Darren Huckerby, Matt Svensson and Leon McKenzie in, but at the time circumstances were such that Wolves didn't want to let him out," said Worthington, swift to pay tribute to those who had made such a quick loan move possible.

The move was also helped by Cooper's long-standing friendship with Canary full-back Edworthy. He was not, however, the only familiar face to greet Cooper after representatives of both Wimbledon and Stockport County were also in attendance. "I know Marc very well but I also know Damien Francis from Wimbledon and young Briggsy from Stockport," said Cooper, who made a £1m switch to Wolves in 2002.

Cooper made his debut as a substitute in the Canaries' 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on 20th March 2004. Playing an important role as the Canaries won the Division One title, the Canaries enquired about bringing Cooper to Carrow Road on a permanent basis. This looks unlikely with Wolves' asking price not in the same ballpark as Norwich's estimation.

On 29th July 2005, Cardiff signed Cooper along with West Brom defender Darren Purse and Northern Ireland international midfielder Phil Mulryne.

On 29th September 2006, Kevin joined Yeovil on a month's loan. Another loan period began towards the end of February 2006 when Kevin joined Walsall along with Kevin Harper. Returning to Cardiff, he was placed on the transfer list in May 2007.

On 25th October 2007, Kevin was loaned out to Tranmere Rovers and has been given permission to play for Rovers in the FA Cup first round on 10 November, even though he will become cup-tied.

Kevin returned to Cardiff but was released from his contract on 1st February 2008. He joined Chesterfield until the end of the season on February 8, 2008] and made a goalscoring debut the following day. Kevin was released by Chesterfield at the end of the 2007/8 season.

WIKIPEDIA ENTRY