Ollie Cooper: Wales hopeful aiming to make his mark at Swansea City

Ollie Cooper made his senior Swansea debut in the FA Cup win at Stevenage in January 2021

In the middle of the Malaysian night, a former Cardiff City player can be found watching Swansea City.

Kevin Cooper tends to stay up and wait for Swansea's games to kick off, while wife Emma goes to bed early but sets her alarm for the early hours.

They are watching their son, Ollie Cooper, the latest bright young thing to make his mark in Swansea's first team having emerged from the academy.

Kevin Cooper, 47, played more than 400 games during a playing career which featured spells with the likes of Wolves, Stockport and Wimbledon, as well as Newport County and Neath.

It was his move to Cardiff, in 2005, which saw the family up sticks, leaving the Midlands for south Wales.

It has been Cooper junior's home ever since.

While his parents and sister Libby, 16, have moved to Malaysia as a result of Kevin's coaching career, Ollie remains in Wales.

Ollie Cooper signed his first professional contract in 2019 having come through the ranks at Swansea

And more than a decade after signing for Swansea, the attacking midfielder has made such an impression in the early stages of this season that head coach Russell Martin has suggested he could land a place in the Wales squad for November's World Cup.

"He [Martin] keeps saying that I have got to believe in myself as much as he believes in me," Cooper tells BBC Sport Wales.

"I just feel that with football, the more you play, the more confidence you are going to get."

There have been seven Swansea appearances so far in 2022-23 for a player who began the campaign wondering whether he would get a first-team chance.

Cooper has brought energy, enthusiasm and attacking quality to a team who appear to be on the up having struggled for results in the opening weeks of the season.

When Swansea go to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, Cooper's will be one of the first names on Martin's team sheet.

Yet the former Wales Under-21 international - at 22 he is now too old for that level - still feels like a player trying to prove himself.

"I feel like I am part of the first-team squad but I don't feel like I have quite broken through yet," Cooper says. "I still feel I have a lot more to offer."

Steve Cooper gave his namesake a senior Swansea debut in the FA Cup in January 2021.

There were four further substitute appearances that season, before Cooper joined Newport on loan for the 2021-22 campaign.

He impressed at Rodney Parade, making 35 appearances, before returning to Swansea this summer intent on landing a place in Martin's side.

Ollie Cooper hopes to represent Wales at senior level having played for the under-21s

"I don't think I would have come into this season as ready if I hadn't gone to Newport," Cooper says.

"It was the perfect loan for me."

Cooper's story might have been different. The family's Welsh home was in Pontyclun, a little over 10 miles from the Cardiff City Stadium.

The young Cooper remembers watching his dad playing for Cardiff at Ninian Park, but never got the chance to join the Bluebirds himself despite numerous trials.

"At that age there were day trials, two-week trials, six-week trials," Cooper remembers.

"I went to them all but never got selected. Players got picked over me.

"They just never thought I was good enough, or I wasn't big enough or whatever - there were plenty of reasons I got given each time.

"Then I went to Swansea and I like to think it all worked out for the best."

Cooper signed for Swansea at under-11 level after being spotted playing for Port Talbot Academy.

"I am thankful to my mum. It was her that drove me to training most days," Cooper says. "It was tough on her and it was tough on my sister.

"It was early mornings or late nights - you are spending a lot of time in the car.

"But it's all worth it. You'd do it over and over again if it meant getting the chance that I have been given."

Kevin Cooper celebrates scoring for Cardiff against Stoke in 2006

The shame is that the family have hardly seen Cooper in action since he graduated to senior football.

Having retired as a player, Kevin coached Cardiff's under-21s before a spell as manager of Swiss side Servette.

He moved to Malaysia in 2019 to coach ATM FA, an armed forces team.

Covid-19 meant Ollie did not see his family for two years. When they were finally able to visit last Christmas, they were struck by Covid themselves so only made it to a handful of Cooper's Newport games.

To date, the family have only seen Ollie playing for Swansea on a screen.

"They make sure they watch - it just disrupts their routine a little bit," Cooper says.

"My dad will stay up until two or three in the morning to watch the late games, or my mum will go to sleep and wake up to watch them."

Another visit is imminent, with the end of the Malaysian season meaning a trip to Wales which, as it happens, will coincide with Swansea's meeting with Cardiff, on 23 October.

"I think dad will be back for the derby, which will be a good game for him to watch," Cooper says.

Many of the friends Cooper grew up with in Pontyclun are Cardiff fans. They have already explained, he says, that they will be in the crowd next month "not quite cheering me on".

As for his father, Cooper believes there will be no question over his loyalties come derby day despite his history.

"You would always choose your family, wouldn't you," Cooper says. "He will back me all the way."