Andy Cooke

Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Cooke was once a trainee at local side Telford United. 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. 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. 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…

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

Stoke City

Football League Second Division play-offs: 2002