Andy Cooke

For those of a similar name, see Andrew Cooke (disambiguation) and Andy Cook (disambiguation).

Andrew Roy Cooke (born 20 January 1974) is an English former footballer, who played as a striker for Newtown, Burnley, Stoke City, Busan I'Cons (South Korea), Bradford City, Darlington and Shrewsbury Town.

Andy Cooke

Personal information
Full name	Andrew Roy Cooke[1]
Date of birth	(1974-01-20) 20 January 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth	Shrewsbury, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1991	Telford United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1995	Newtown	80	(35)
1995–2000	Burnley	172	(51)
2000–2003	Stoke City	88	(21)
2003–2004	Busan I'Cons	42	(19)
2005–2006	Bradford City	37	(5)
2006	→ Darlington (loan)	14	(3)
2006–2008	Shrewsbury Town	48	(15)
2011–2012	Market Drayton Town
Total		481	(149)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Cooke was once a trainee at local side Telford United.^[2] He started his footballing career at Welsh semi-professional club Newtown. He was a prolific goalscorer in the Welsh Premier League which attracted the attention of several Football League clubs. Burnley signed Cooke in 1995, and he made 172 league appearances and scored 51 goals for them, forging a partnership with Andy Payton.

In December 2000 he joined the club he grew up supporting, Stoke City, for a fee of £300,000. He spent two and a half years at the Britannia Stadium, making 102 appearances and scoring 23 goals. On 19 July 2003, he moved to South Korean K-League club Busan I'Cons, along with fellow countryman Jamie Cureton.^[3]

On his return to England in January 2005, Cooke signed for Bradford City, playing 37 games and scoring five goals. He had a three-month spell on loan at Darlington before signing for Shrewsbury Town for free on 27 July 2006.^[4]

Cooke made his Shrewsbury debut on 26 August 2006 as a half-time substitute for Kelvin Langmead in a 1–0 defeat at Bristol Rovers. He started the next match, a 1–0 defeat to Lincoln City, and in his third match scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win against Stockport County.

On 1 January 2007, Cooke scored his 100th professional goal during a 4–2 win over Stockport County. He also scored a hat-trick in that game, giving him the distinction of having achieved this feat both home and away against Stockport County in the 2006–07 season. Having failed to score for three months, Cooke came on as a substitute in the League Two playoff semi-final second leg to score both goals in a 2–1 aggregate victory over MK Dons.^[5]

At the end of the season, Cooke was offered a new one-year contract, but warned by manager Gary Peters that he would not be guaranteed a regular place in the first-team squad. Cooke decided to stay with Shrewsbury Town, and Peters went on to say that it would not surprise him if he ended the season as the team's top goalscorer.^[6]

Cooke scored twice in Shrewsbury Town's 2007–08 opening-day victory at Lincoln City, but sustained a hamstring injury in a League Cup fixture against Colchester United three days later.^[7] He resumed full training in early December,^[8] and his comeback was complete when he returned to first-team action on 26 December 2007. Although he only played the first half against Stockport County, Cooke marked his return with a goal, his seventh in his last three games against that opposition.

On 31 January 2008, Cooke was set to sign a one-and-a-half-year contract with Notts County, but the deal fell through because of a "late hitch".^[9]

On 15 April 2008, Cooke was released by Shrewsbury Town by mutual consent, after being informed his contract would not be renewed.^[10] He trained with Kidderminster Harriers, but wanted to continue playing in the Football League; however, when no club came in for him, he announced his retirement as a player on 28 August 2008.^[11]

He came out of retirement in November 2011 to sign for his local club Market Drayton Town as a Director of Football and also as a player.^[12][13]

Personal life

Cooke grew up supporting Stoke City.^[14] After retiring from playing Cooke began working in the Group Insurance industry.^[14]

Career statistics

Source:^[15]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Burnley	1995–96[16]	Second Division	23	5	1	0	0	0	4[a]	0	28	5
	1996–97[17]	Second Division	31	13	3	0	3	1	0	0	37	14
	1997–98[18]	Second Division	34	16	2	1	2	1	5[a]	2	43	20
	1998–99[19]	Second Division	36	9	0	0	1	1	1[a]	0	38	10
	1999–2000[20]	Second Division	37	7	4	1	0	0	0	0	41	8
	2000–01[21]	First Division	11	2	0	0	4	3	—		15	5
	Total		172	51	10	2	10	6	10	2	202	57
Stoke City	2000–01[21]	Second Division	22	6	0	0	0	0	5[b]	1	27	7
	2001–02[22]	Second Division	35	9	4	1	1	0	3[c]	0	43	10
	2002–03[23]	First Division	31	6	0	0	1	0	—		32	6
	Total		88	21	4	1	2	0	8	1	102	23
Busan I'Cons	2003	K-League	22	13	1	1	—		—		23	14
	2004	K-League	20	6	0	0	—		—		20	6
	Total		42	19	1	1	—		—		43	20
Bradford City	2004–05[24]	League One	20	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	4
	2005–06[25]	League One	17	1	2	1	2	0	2[a]	0	23	2
	Total		37	5	2	1	2	0	2	0	43	6
Darlington (loan)	2005–06[25]	League Two	14	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	3
Shrewsbury Town	2006–07[26]	League Two	34	10	2	0	0	0	3[d]	2	39	12
	2007–08[27]	League Two	14	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	15	5
	Total		48	15	2	0	1	0	3	2	54	17
Career total			401	114	19	5	15	6	23	5	458	130

1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
2. Three appearances and goal in Football League Trophy two appearances in Second Division play-offs
3. Appearances in Second Division play-offs
4. Appearances in League Two play-offs

References

1. Hugman, Barry J, ed. (2006). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006–07. Edinburgh: Mainstream. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4.
2. "Cooke joins Shrews for pre-season". BBC Sport. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
3. "8 years ago today: Bye Bye Cooke". Football.co.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
4. "Transfers – July 2006". BBC Sport. 31 July 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
5. "MK Dons 1-2 Shrewsbury". BBC. 18 May 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
6. Hudson, Chris (6 July 2007). "Cooke signs new Shrews deal". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
7. "Cookey Out?". Shrewsbury Town F.C. 16 August 2007. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
8. "Andy Cooke". Shrewsbury Town F.C. 7 December 2007. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
9. "Notts Move For Cooke Falls Through". Notts County F.C. 1 February 2008. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
10. "Shrews striker Cooke leaves club". BBC Sport. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
11. Parker, Simon (28 August 2008). "Cooke calls it a day". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
12. "Striker Andy Cooke signs for Market Drayton Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
13. "'Cookey' joins Drayton in fight for survival". Market Drayton Town F.C. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
14. "#SociallySpeaking With Andy Cooke". Stoke City F.C. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
15. Andy Cooke at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
16. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 1995/1996". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
17. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
18. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
19. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
20. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
21. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
22. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
23. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
24. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
25. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
26. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
27. "Games played by Andy Cooke in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.

External links

• Andy Cooke at Soccerbase
• Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
• Andy Cooke – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)