Robbie Cooke
Personal information
Full name Robert Leslie Cooke[1]
Date of birth (1957-02-16)16 February 1957
Place of birth Rotherham, England
Date of death 7 August 2021(2021-08-07) (aged 64)[2]
Place of death Peterborough, England[2]
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
0000–1975 Mansfield Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1978 Mansfield Town 15 (1)
1978–1980 Grantham 78 (65)
1980–1983 Peterborough United 114 (51)
1983 → Luton Town (loan) 0 (0)
1983–1985 Cambridge United 65 (14)
1984–1985 → Brentford (loan)
1985–1987 Brentford 124 (53)
1987–1988 Millwall 4 (1)
1988–1991 Kettering Town 95 (49)
1991 Grantham Town 10 (5)
1991–1992 Northampton Spencer
1992–1993 Bourne Town 35 (24)
International career
England C 2
Managerial career
Warboys Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Leslie Cooke (16 February 1957 – 7 August 2021) was an English footballer and manager who played as a forward in the Football League, most notably for Peterborough United and Brentford. He represented England C at international level while playing non-League football. After retiring from football, Cooke managed Warboys Town and later became a scout.

Club career

Mansfield Town

Cooke began his career in the youth system at Mansfield Town and made 9 appearances and scoring one goal in his debut season, in which the Stags won the 1976–77 Third Division championship.[4] He made only six appearances in Second Division during the 1977–78 season and departed the club at the end of the campaign, having made just 15 first team appearances for the club.[5]

Grantham

Cooke joined Southern League First Division North club Grantham during the 1978 off-season and scored 43 goals to propel the club to the 1978–79 division championship.[5] Cooke's performances saw him awarded the Supporters' Player of the Year award.[5] Grantham moved to the Northern Premier League for the 1979–80 season and Cooke was on fire again, scoring 39 goals.[5] He departed the Gingerbreads at the end of the campaign.[5]

Peterborough United

Cooke's goalscoring exploits for Grantham caught the eye of Fourth Division club Peterborough United, which culminated in him moving to the club for a £12,000 fee in May 1980.[1][5] He was an immediate hit at Posh, scoring 29 goals in 56 games during the 1980–81 season and being named in the Fourth Division PFA Team of the Year.[6][7] Cooke bettered his goalscoring tally in the 1981–82 season, with 31 goals in 55 games.[6] Cooke's prolific form tailed off during the 1982–83 season and following a loan spell at First Division club Luton Town, he managed only 11 goals in 33 appearances before departing in February 1983.[1][6] Cooke scored 71 goals in 144 appearances for the Posh.[6]

Cambridge United

Cooke signed for Second Division club Cambridge United in February 1983 for a £12,000 fee.[8] He failed to find his prolific goalscoring form for the struggling club, which suffered relegation to the Third Division at the end of the 1983–84 season.[9] Cooke managed 14 goals in 65 league appearances and with relegation to the Fourth Division looming, he departed the club midway through the 1984–85 season.[1]

Brentford

Cooke joined Third Division club Brentford on a two-month loan in December 1984 and he later signed permanently for fee ranging between £20,000 and £25,000.[10][11] He quickly found form, scoring 16 goals in 31 games and scoring what proved to be a consolation in the 3–1 1985 Football League Trophy Final defeat to Wigan Athletic.[12] Cooke finished the 1984–85 season as both Brentford and Cambridge United's top scorer, which was only the third time in history the feat had been managed.[5] Three years of mid-table mediocrity followed and Cooke departed Brentford in December 1987, having scored 64 goals in 150 games for the Bees.[13]

Millwall

Cooke joined Second Division high-flyers Millwall on 11 December 1987 for a £30,000 fee and scored one goal in five appearances during the remainder of the 1987–88 season.[14] He was unable to break up the forward pairing of Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham and departed the Lions in September 1988.[14]

Kettering Town

Cooke dropped back into non-League football to join Conference club Kettering Town in September 1988.[14] He had a prolific spell with the Poppies, scoring 49 goals in 95 appearances across three seasons in which the club consistently challenged for promotion to the Football League.[2]

Non-League nomad

Cooke ended his career with spells at Northampton Spencer, Bourne Town and a second stint at Grantham Town.[5]

International career

Cooke's form while at Kettering Town won him England C recognition.[15]

Managerial and coaching career

Cooke had a spell as player-coach at Southern League Midland Division club Grantham Town during the 1991–92 season.[5] After his retirement from football, Cooke became manager at Eastern Counties League First Division club Warboys Town.[5] In December 1998, Cooke returned to Kettering Town to become assistant manager and first team coach.[16]

Scouting career

Cooke was invited to become a part-time scout for Preston North End by former Cambridge United teammate and then-Preston manager David Moyes.[17] Cooke subsequently followed Moyes to Premier League club Everton in 2002 and Manchester United in 2013, serving as chief scout at both clubs.[18][19] After Moyes was sacked by Manchester United in April 2014,[20] Cooke was not retained by incoming manager Louis van Gaal.[21] In November 2014, Cooke was appointed to the role of UK and International Scout at Burnley.[17] By June 2017, he had left the club.[22] Cooke reunited with David Moyes at Premier League club West Ham United in 2020 and held the role of chief scout until his death in August 2021.[23]

Personal life

Cooke's nephew Russell was also a footballer and played for Hucknall Town, Eastwood Town and Ilkeston Town.[24][25] Cooke worked for Thomas Cook and later for Travelex in the 1990s and at the time of his death from cancer at Thorpe Hall in August 2021,[2][11][18] he was living in Sawtry.[26]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Peterborough United 1980–81[27] Fourth Division 46 22 6 4 4 3 — 56 29
1981–82[27] 46 24 3 3 2 1 4[lower-alpha 1] 3 55 31
1982–83[27] 22 5 4 2 3 3 4[lower-alpha 2] 1 33 11
Total 114 51 13 9 9 7 8 4 144 71
Brentford 1984–85[12] Third Division 24 12 — — 7[lower-alpha 3] 4 31 16
1985–86[12] 44 17 1 0 4 1 2[lower-alpha 3] 0 51 18
1986–87[12] 40 20 3 0 2 1 3[lower-alpha 3] 4 48 25
1987–88[12] 16 4 1 0 2 1 1[lower-alpha 3] 0 20 5
Total 124 53 5 0 8 3 13 8 150 64
Millwall 1987–88[28] Second Division 4 1 — — 1[lower-alpha 4] 0 5 1
Career total 242 105 18 9 17 10 22 12 299 136
  1. ↑ Appearances in Football League Group Cup
  2. ↑ 3 appearances and 1 goal in Football League Trophy, 1 appearance in Northamptonshire Cup
  3. 1 2 3 4 Appearances in Football League Trophy
  4. ↑ Appearance in Full Members Cup

Honours

Grantham

Northampton Spencer

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Robbie Cooke". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Richardson, Paul. "A personal tribute to Peterborough United great Robbie Cooke from a PT Posh writer who knew him well: 'A proper poacher and a wise and intelligent man'". www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  3. ↑ Rollin, Jack (1981). Rothmans Football Yearbook: 1981–82. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 272. ISBN 0-362-02046-9. OCLC 868301130.
  4. ↑ Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 351–352. ISBN 978-1906796716.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Cooke, Robbie (1957 – )". Grantham Matters. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Robbie Cooke's Career". UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  7. 1 2 Lynch, Tony (1995). The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. Random House. p. 143. ISBN 0-09-179135-9.
  8. ↑ "1982/83 Transfers". UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "Cambridge United Complete History". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  10. ↑ White 1989, p. 325.
  11. 1 2 Morgan, Pat. "Robbie Cooke: 1957–2021". www.cambridge-united.co.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 398–399. ISBN 0951526200.
  13. ↑ Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. p. 40. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  14. 1 2 3 "Millwall Players A to D". millwall-history.org.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 35. ISBN 1-874427-57-7.
  16. ↑ Metcalf, Rupert (11 December 1998). "Football: Non-League Notebook – Morris's minor miracle – Sport". The Independent. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  17. 1 2 "Cooke Adds New Ingredient To Scouting Network". Burnley Football Club. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  18. 1 2 "Football: Everton job was too good for Cooke to turn down". Peterborough Telegraph. 19 December 2002. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  19. ↑ Herbert, Ian (27 February 2014). "Comment: David Moyes must be bold to rebuild Manchester United, with club ready to spend £200m in transfer market – News & Comment – Football". The Independent. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  20. ↑ Stone, Simon (22 April 2014). "David Moyes: Manchester United manager sacked by club". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  21. ↑ "Van Gaal's US$200m war chest". The Herald. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  22. ↑ Bailey, Michael (15 June 2017). "Norwich City's continental path can bear fruit – so says their former captain Ian Butterworth, who is doing likewise for Premier League Burnley". Pink Un – Norwich City Football Club News. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  23. ↑ "Robbie Cooke". Knees up Mother Brown – West Ham United FC Online: News. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  24. ↑ "New era for non-league football". Hucknall Dispatch. 13 August 2004. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  25. ↑ "Football : Russell Cooke". Footballdatabase.eu. 18 May 1981. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  26. ↑ "RIP Robbie Cooke, one of the greatest Peterborough United forwards". www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  27. 1 2 3 "Robbie Cooke's Matches For Peterborough". UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  28. ↑ "Millwall Stats 1987–88". www.millwall-history.org.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  • Robbie Cooke at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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