Andy Cooke

Andy Cooke

Personal information
Full name	Andrew Roy Cooke
Date of birth	20 January 1974 (1974-01-20)
Place of birth	Shrewsbury, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Market Drayton Town
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–	Market Drayton Town
Total		481	(149)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Andrew "Andy" Cooke (born 20 January 1974 in Shrewsbury) is an English former professional footballer, who plays as a striker for Market Drayton Town

Career

Cooke 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 where he made 172 league appearances and scoring 51 goals 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 scoring 23 goals before moving to South Korean club Busan I'cons in 2003 along with fellow countryman Jamie Cureton.

On his return to England in January 2005, Cooke signed for Bradford City, playing 37 games and scoring 5 goals. He had a three-month spell on loan at Darlington before signing for Shrewsbury Town.

Cooke made his Shrewsbury Town 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 2–0 aggregate victory over MK Dons.

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.

Cooke scored twice in Shrewsbury Town's 2007–08 opening-day victory at Lincoln City, but then sustained a hamstring injury in a League Cup fixture against Colchester United three days later. He resumed full training in early December, 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".

On 15 April 2008, Cooke was released by Shrewsbury Town by mutual consent, after being informed his contract would not be renewed. 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.

He came out of retirement in November 2011 to signed for his local club Market Drayton Town as a Director of Football and also as a player.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Burnley	1995–96	23	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	24	5
	1996–97	31	13	3	0	3	1	0	0	37	14
	1997–98	34	16	2	1	2	1	5	2	43	20
	1998–99	36	9	0	0	1	1	1	0	38	10
	1999–2000	37	7	4	1	0	0	0	0	41	8
	2000–01	11	2	0	0	4	3	0	0	15	5
	Total	172	51	10	2	10	6	6	2	198	57
Stoke City	2000–01	22	6	0	0	0	0	5	1	27	7
	2001–02	35	9	4	1	1	0	3	0	43	10
	2002–03	31	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	32	6
	Total	88	21	4	1	2	0	8	1	102	23
Busan I'cons	2003	22	13	1	1	0	0	0	0	23	14
	2004	20	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	6
	Total	42	19	1	1	0	0	0	0	43	20
Bradford City	2004–05	20	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	4
	2005–06	17	1	2	1	2	0	2	0	23	2
	Total	37	5	2	1	2	0	2	0	43	6
Darlington (loan)	2005–06	14	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	3
	Total	14	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	3
Shrewsbury Town	2006–07	34	10	2	0	0	0	3	2	39	12
	2007–08	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	19	5	454	130

Footnotes

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League play-offs, and Football League Trophy.

External links

• Andy Cooke career stats at Soccerbase
• Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net