Out of favour defender leaves Chelsea as contract expires

Out of favour Chelsea defender Deanna Cooper has left the club with her contract at Kingsmeadow having come to an end according to reports on The Blues’ official website.

The 26-year-old Chatham-born centre-back has spent more than three years with the South West Londoners but has often found game time restricted either due to the high level of competition at the club or due to bad luck with injuries.

Cooper’s most successful campaign was the 2017 FA Women’s Super League 1 Spring Series. The defender made eight starts for Emma Hayes’ side as they won the stop-gap competition. The player has made just seven more league starts in the three seasons which have followed as she has endured something of a difficult period in her footballing career.

With Cooper having been unlikely to become one of manager Hayes’ first choice defenders next season, it has been revealed that the player has left Kingsmeadow this summer and she will look to progress her career with another club. The defender leaves the South West Londoners with two league titles, one Women’s FA Cup and one FA Women’s Continental League Cup to her name.

Chelsea signed Cooper from second tier club London Bees after she had impressed against them in the 2016 FA Women’s Continental Tyres Cup. She can also include Gillingham and Brighton & Hove Albion amongst her former clubs.

Daniel Pentland

I am the editor and owner of FAWSL Full-Time magazine. I have been reporting on men’s and women’s football at various levels since summer 2015. Some of the events which I have reported from include the 2017 UEFA Women’s European Championship, 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, SSE Women’s FA Cup final, Emirates FA Cup final, UEFA Europa League, English Football League and various international matches.

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