'Ada’s Day' Takes Place At Coopers This January To Celebrate The 101st Anniversary Of Her First License

CITY OF LIVERPOOL, LIVERPOOL CITY REGION.

A Year On From The Centenary Celebrating Ada Cooper Getting Her First License, The Team At The Liverpool Institution, Coopers, Are Celebrating The Legendary Landlady Every Year

(Credit: Supplied/Image was provided to The Liverpudlian with permission to share, courtesy of the Publicist on behalf of their client. We make no claim to this content).

Fresh from the success of its festive season and first-ever New Year’s Eve party, the Coopers team in Liverpool are proud to reveal 'Ada’s Day' in recognition of its beloved former landlady.

In honour of the legendary landlady, Ada Cooper, who started a truly wonderful story about the City’s hospitality. It all began when she took over The Sefton over a century ago on the 16th of January 1925.

The loyal patrons swiftly adopted Ada’s surname rather than the official title for their beloved public house – a very affectionate and Scouse way of showing their love for Ada who, unbeknownst to her in those days, created one of the City’s most famous and enduring pub names.

She made such an impression and left such a legacy, that when the pub was being remodelled and refurbished 50 years later, the name of the pub was officially changed to her surname – 'Coopers'.

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Following on from the ecstatic centenary celebrations last year including the unveiling of local artist Emma Rodgers’ commemorative plaque, starting from 2026 there will be an annual celebration for 'Ada’s Day' every year.

To help with the fun, a surprise guest will be performing on the special day. The following week, the Annual Pensioner Party takes place on Tuesday the 20th of January. Each week during 2025, Coopers put money away so they can spoil the pensioners with their own party, with food, drinks, gifts — and of course, plenty of singing.

So, over a century on, the Coopers magic remains the same, and in particular its famed atmosphere. Proudly welcoming all at any hour, to be basked with warm welcomes, karaoke and live music, Coopers is a place of community and continuity. It has many regulars and fascinating characters but equally new faces are always welcomed, as the legend of Coopers thrives and spreads.

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The Liverpudlian also covered last year's centenary of Coopers, including the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Ada Cooper produced by local artist, Emma Rodgers.

Since the centenary, the Cooper’s community has supplied more details regarding the eponymous landlady, who was born in 1870 in Middlesex.

Ada was 26 when she married John Wilson in 1896, who was then the landlord of what was the Sefton on Cases Street – pre-Coopers. After getting married the two lived at the pub. Each census that has them living there has 2 servants recorded as well. After John passed in 1924, Ada remained at the pub - they were married for 28 years.

“We’re proudly making Ada’s Day and annual celebration and get-together to honour her and this beautiful slice of Scouse cultural life she founded over a century ago now.” - Maria Azzopardi, Licensee of Coopers Townhouse.

Ada then married Robert Cooper at the start of 1925 and, days later, secured her licence as Ada Cooper on 16th January 1925. With her final licence endorsement coming at the start of 1929, after which she wound up her 35-year association with the pub. It’s no wonder Ada was so fondly remembered as a leading light in the City’s hospitality scene with the local following she garnered.

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2025 saw Coopers move further into livestreaming, spreading the little pub with a big heart to a truly global audience. At the end of December 2025, Coopers had amassed 201,000 followers on Facebook, 330,000 on Tik Tok and 124,000 on Instagram. On the Ada’s Day celebrations, live screens that record the number of followers on social media will be unveiled and will become a new feature in the pub showing the numbers watching the live streams as they happen.

Licensee, Maria Azzopardi, and her partner and Head of Entertainment, Steve Keegan, and the team are inviting everyone to Coopers to celebrate Ada on Friday the 16th of January, when they will once again raise a glass to the legend who started the magical story over a century ago.

Maria Azzopardi, Licensee of Coopers Townhouse, said: “We’re proudly making Ada’s Day and annual celebration and get-together to honour her and this beautiful slice of Scouse cultural life she founded over a century ago now. Coopers is such a special place and we’re all immensely proud to be part of it, and to have such a lovely group of regulars and plenty of new faces coming in from all over the world to see what the fuss is all about.”

(Credit: Supplied/Image was provided to The Liverpudlian with permission to share, courtesy of the Publicist on behalf of their client. We make no claim to this content).

She added: “It’s going to be another great year here and Ada’s Day is going to get 2026 really started for us. 2025 was a huge year for Coopers, on Tuesday 16th December we even had Peter, the drummer and lead singer with Paper Lace, who travelled from Nottingham with his friends and sang their iconic hit number one from 1974, Billy Don’t Be A Hero to everyone which was very special.”

Ada’s legacy will be proudly celebrated on Friday the 16th of January.