Paul Cook (footballer)

Football player infobox
playername = Paul Cook


fullname = Paul Anthony Cook
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1967|2|22
cityofbirth = Liverpool
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=5|in=11
currentclub = Sligo Rovers (manager)
position = Midfielder (retired)
youthyears =
youthclubs = Kirkby Schools
years = 1983–1984
1984–1988
1988–1989
1989–1994
1994–1996
1996–1997
1997–1999
1999
1999–2003
2001–2002
2003–2006
clubs = Marine
Wigan Athletic
Norwich City
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Coventry City
Tranmere Rovers
Stockport County
→ Burnley (loan)
Burnley
→ Wigan Athletic (loan)
Accrington Stanley
caps(goals) = 00- 000(-)
083 0(14)
006 00(0)
193 0(19)
037 00(3)
060 00(4)
049 00(3)
012 00(1)
134 0(11)
006 00(0)
062 00(1)
manageryears = 2006–2007
2007–
managerclubs = Southport
Sligo Rovers

Paul Anthony Cook (born February 22, 1967 in Liverpool) is an English former footballer, currently manager of Sligo Rovers in Ireland. He had a lengthy career, playing for a number of clubs in the Football League as a left sided or central midfielder before retiring from the game in 2006.

Playing career

Cook began his career at his local non-league team Marine before being quickly signed up by Wigan Athletic, where he featured in almost one hundred games in a four-year spell. Cook then had a brief and unsuccessful spell at Norwich City before moving to the Midlands to play for Wolves for £250,000.

He was a very popular player during his time at Wolves, both with the fans and his team-mates and became known for his deadly and accurate left foot. After over 190 appearances for Wolves over five seasons in the second tier, he made the short journey to Premier League Coventry City.

He played the majority of the club's games in his first season (1994-95) but fell from favour during the following campaign, where he made only three appearances. In February 1996, he was sold to Tranmere Rovers for £250,000.

Whilst at Tranmere he became a key member of the team, playing sixty games in just eighteen months. In October 1997, Tranmere accepted a bid of £250,000 from Stockport County and so regained the fee they had paid for Cook in the first place. After twelve months at County, Cook began to be regarded as 'too old', despite being just 32. This led to his move to Burnley, initially on loan but fully signing in July 1999 to play under Stan Ternent.

Cook experienced an 'Indian summer' to his career, making 130 league appearances over a four year spell. During this period he established excellent understandings with many players, especially Lee Briscoe and the two often devised new free-kick routines to catch Division One defences off-guard.

After a falling out with the manager, Cook went on loan to one of his old clubs, Wigan Athletic, but made just six appearances before he was re-called to again take his place in the starting line up at Turf Moor. Cook left Burnley at the end of the 2003 season, at the same time as Andy Payton. The two players got a standing ovation from the fans for their contributions to the club.

Defying doubts about his fitness and age, Cook signed for non-league team Accrington Stanley and went on to become a first team regular in their push for promotion to the Football League. This target was finally achieved in the 2005/06 season when Stanley were crowned Champions. Having achieved this aim, Cook finally retired after almost 600 league appearances for nine different teams.

After the end of the 2005/06 season, Cook was granted a testimonial by Accrington as a thank-you for his hard work. It was played on 2 May 2006 at the Interlink Express (now the Fraser Eagle) Stadium, Accrington against a Burnley Select XI featuring old team-mates Dean West, Lenny Johnrose, Ian Cox and Kevin Ball.

Management career

Cook was appointed manager of Conference side Southport on 13 June 2006, a post he was sacked from in January 2007 following defeat at Northwich Victoria.

He became manager of Sligo Rovers on 27 April 2007, taking over from Rob McDonald, who resigned before the start of the season. He guided Sligo to a credible 6th place league finish in his first season.

External links

*soccerbase|id=1622|name=Paul Cook
* [http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/cook.htm Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk]