Andy Cooke

Andrew Roy Cooke (born 20 January 1974) is an English former footballer, who played as a striker for Newtown, Burnley, Stoke City, Busan I'Cons (South Korea), Bradford City, Darlington and Shrewsbury Town.

Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Cooke was once a trainee at local side Telford United F.C.. 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 5 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 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 2–1 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 sign for his local club Market Drayton Town as a Director of Football and also as a player.

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

Lives back in Market Drayton now

• Sourced from Andy Cooke profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)