Romford has taught me everything insists Everyone Active Raiders defenceman Jack Cooper after re-signing for his eighth season in a gold and blue jersey.

The 24-year-old joined his boyhood club during the 2014-15 season from Haringey Racers after a brief stint away following the closure of the old Rom Valley Way rink.

Cooper has iced for the Raiders every season since and is slowly becoming one of the club’s all-time leading appearance holders.

“I’m 100 per cent excited to be back, I've loved every minute of playing for the Raiders, Romford is a club that has taught me everything,” Cooper said.

“I can’t wait to get back to a full season and hopefully some crowd noise behind us! I think this will be a great year for us.”

The defensive defenceman believes they have to now start pushing on as a team after keeping the core of former Romford juniors together for a number of seasons now.

Romford Recorder: Raiders defenceman Jack Cooper in action during the NIHL Spring CupRaiders defenceman Jack Cooper in action during the NIHL Spring Cup (Image: John Scott)

“This year we really need to knuckle down. We’ve been together for a while now so it’s time we challenge for a top spot," he added.

“We have it in us, we just need to keep training hard and play for each other and the results will come.”

The 2020/21 National League season never happened due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Raiders did receive elite status to allow them to play 12 Spring Cup matches behind closed doors during the national lockdown.

They came up against Sheffield Steeldogs, Telford Tigers, Swindon Wildcats and Bees IHC but all of those teams bolstered their rosters with Great Britain internationals and Elite League players, including Liam Kirk who recently top scored in the World Championships and penned a three-year entry level deal with the NHL's Arizona Coyotes.

“The Spring Cup was great as it got so many players around the country back on the ice, a thing we did not think was going to happen for a while," said Cooper.

“It was tough as we were coming up against some of the best players in the country but was a massive learning experience. I’d do it all again if I could.”

Cooper joins the likes of netminders Ethan James and Brad Windebank, defenceman Dan Scott, and forwards Erik Piatak, Aaron Connolly, Brandon Ayliffe and Jacob Ranson in returning to the Raiders.