David Cork

David Cork was born on 29 October 1962 in Doncaster, in what was then the West Riding of Yorkshire. He played representative football at district and county schools level, and had a trial with his home-town club, Doncaster Rovers, before signing schoolboy forms with Arsenal in 1978. He turned professional in 1980, and the same year spent time on loan at Swedish second-tier club GAIS. Mainly a reserve-team player during his time at Arsenal, Cork helped them win the Football Combination title in 1983–84. He made his first-team debut on 17 December 1983 against Watford in the First Division, a game Arsenal won 3–1. He made eight appearances in the 1983–84 season, the last of which was against Liverpool on 11 February 1984, and scored once, against Southampton in December 1983. He did not play a single first-team match during the 1984–85 season and was released in the summer of 1985. Cork signed for Second Division club Huddersfield Town, under the management of Mick Buxton. He made his debut in the opening match of the season, scored Huddersfield Town's 4000th league goal a week later (with help from the opposing goalkeeper), and finished the season with eight goals from 38 league appearances. Two of his nine goals in the 1986–87 season came in a 3–0 win at home to Millwall in the final fixture, which Huddersfield had needed to win to be sure of avoiding relegation. Against a background of changes at managerial and board level, the team spent much of 1987–88 in the relegation…

Arsenal Reserves

Football Combination: 1983–84 Darlington

Football Conference: 1989–90 Football League Fourth Division: 1990–91