Keith Duggan looks at the phenomenally rapid rise to prominence of the latest Kerry find, Colm Cooper, who appears to have all the credentials to become one of the greats of Gaelic football

Colm Cooper first kicked ball in Croke Park at the age of nine, when his home club, Dr Croke's, won the All-Ireland club championship.

It would probably come of little surprise to people if they heard he was actually playing that day, so startling has his combination of youth and brilliance been in recent weeks. But it just so happened that it was Cooper's turn to act as team mascot.

"It's kind of ironic to think of him as a Kerry senior 10 years later," says Pat O'Shea, the Kerry minor coach and a club-mate of Cooper's.

"It wouldn't have been too long ago that Colm would have been turning up at training sessions looking for an autograph from Kerry players. It goes to show the speed of his elevation that has brought him to this point in his career."

The arrival of Cooper has caught most people unaware and it was really only on live television against Kildare last weekend that announced him as the latest Kerryman to interpret football as art.

Afterwards, he cropped up in front of the camera to accept his man-of-the-match award and to say a few words. Red-headed and freckled, he looked like one of the kids that used to star in those Bord Fáilte postcards years ago. He could pass for 15. But he spoke with a level head. It is not as if manager Páidí Ó Sé just plucked him out of thin air.

When Liam Hartnett - full back when Cooper was moonlighting as a mascot and now Dr Croke's senior manager - charts his development, it seems like a more gentle progression.

"Colm would always have been known in Killarney football circles as a very skilful young footballer. He spent two years with the Kerry minors and they had relatively good campaigns. I think his performances for the under-21s were such that a call-up to the senior squad did not surprise many people. But certainly the way he has embraced that opportunity and his displays so far have been exemplary."

O'Shea can pinpoint the time he realised Cooper was going to be the real thing. In the summer of 2000, Dr Croke's played a quarter-final against South Kerry in Waterville. It was the day of the Leinster final between Kildare and Dublin and the club game was scheduled for an evening throw-in. It was a filthy, heavy evening and South Kerry had one or two reputations in the team, guys like Maurice Fitzgerald and Denis O'Dwyer.

"Colm got this goal that I will always remember," says O'Shea, who played corner forward with Cooper that night.

"This floated ball came in and it was something similar to a headed goal you would see in soccer. He just dived at the ball and fisted it to the net through a crowd of players. It was a brave play and really showed his presence of mind. We won the game by three or four points. But he was 16½ then on a really terrible day. Many young players have skill and speed and what have you. But he has this presence of mind that makes it appear as if he has all the time in the world."

Cooper has just finished the Leaving Cert and is whiling away the summer coaching youngsters at GAA camps. It has been a dream-like couple of months for the Killarney player, who didn't really appear until the late stages of Kerry's league run and claimed a starting place with so little fuss, it was as if he has been playing all his life.

But, of course, he has.

Since he could walk, his brothers, Danny or Mark or Vince or Mike, brought him along to training. Danny lined out with Dr Croke's in 1992. Mike plays with Kerry juniors in today's All-Ireland final. Colm grew up immersed in football and, being the youngest in the family, had to scrap for every bit of credit, something that won't change now that he is making waves.

"He is a very easygoing and mature young fellow and much of that is down to his family," says Hartnett.

"Of course they are very proud of his achievements, but at the same time they would always help him keep his feet on the ground."

After his exploits against Kildare, Cooper was back with Dr Croke's for a league game the next day. He didn't train but turned up in the dressing-room for a crucifying round of slagging.

"The thing about it is that everyone in the club wants to make sure that his normal environment is maintained in so far as possible," says O'Shea.

"All this has happened very suddenly and sometimes you feel that Colm can't fully appreciate the magnitude of the situation. Fortunately, he has the maturity to deal with it but the Kerry public are very demanding and being young and new will not prevent Colm being judged in the same way as anyone else.

"And it should be remembered Colm has yet to win anything of note, that he has it all ahead of him. So while everyone in the club is deeply proud of him, we would hope that he would not be over-burdened with expectations."

Kerry have protected their prodigies well in the past, with Mike Frank Russell slipping into first-team football in 1997. Cooper's abrupt arrival, the beautiful goal against Fermanagh and the shockingly young head on his shoulders have made his story seem all the more sensational.

The humour is inevitable as it is predictable. When the Kerry team travels by train, Páidí orders 29 full tickets and gets the young fella on free. If the team stops for something to eat, he orders 29 quarter-pounders and a portion of kiddie nuggets.

"He is quite young looking definitely," says O'Shea, "and if he gets a comment or two about it, he just takes it. That's the great thing about him, he knows his place and he can stand up for himself when he needs to. But most of the time, he doesn't feel the need to bite back or anything," O'Shea adds.

So far, Cooper's guile and speed have allowed him to ride the more ferocious championship tackles. He will be the lightest player at Croke Park tomorrow and the youngest. It is frightening to think that he is only at the outset of his development as a player.

"One of the criticisms that was levelled at him as a minor is that he actually passed the ball too much," offers Hartnett. "He is so capable of taking his scores but always likes to get others involved. I suppose most people have only seen him as a finisher for the Kerry seniors this year. But there is that aspect to his game."

O'Shea can see the manifestation of that in the way the seniors have been playing since Cooper's arrival.

"He would almost prefer to give a pass that would lead to a better goal than to take it himself. He is a real team player and has tremendous vision and I think that maybe he has helped to instil that ethos among the seniors.

"Like, there would be a culture of taking your score in Kerry anyway. But that pass that Liam Hassett gave to Colm for the goal against Kildare, that was only 12 or 15 yards out and a player might be tempted to just have a go from there. But he saw Colm and played him and it was typical of the kind of pass Colm himself would try to make."

On the Dr Croke's website, young Cooper is constantly referred to as the "Gooch". O'Shea thinks that maybe the nickname has its origins in the Gucci clothes label but can't be sure. Not that young Cooper was a Gap kid or anything. He was just as you would imagine, a friendly copper-haired kid who always had a football in his hands.

Killarney GAA people are deeply proud Cooper has joined Eoin Brosnan on the senior team. Brosnan's learning curve has been slightly more graduated, although he did distinguish himself with what 3may well be the goal of the season against Kildare. They are hopeful that it goes well for the Gooch 10 years after his Croke Park debut. His mother will probably not travel to Croke Park as it is her custom to follow Kerry games through the radio or TV. His brothers will treat him the same as they always did. Everything will stay the same.

"Colm has done phenomenally well so far," says O'Shea. "But I suppose we hope that tomorrow, the more senior lads like Dara Ó Sé or Mike Frank will be the dominant figures and that Colm can find his way at his own pace. I mean, playing the All-Ireland champions on a massive day, it is a dramatic step up."

The last thing Cooper needs is to be splashed around as the new Maurice Fitzgerald.

You get the feeling with Cooper that he just wants to play, be it kicking around with friends on a pitch in Killarney or right now, in Croke Park. He is neither a young man in a hurry nor is he being hurried along.

Colm Cooper has definitely arrived. But he will still need time to stay there.