Quick Facts
Biography
Kenneth Alexander "Ken" Coote (19 May 1928 – 2 August 2003) was an English football full back and utility player. He is best known for his 14 years as a player at Brentford, for whom he tops the all-time appearances list with 559 and was also captain of the club. In 2013, Coote placed second in a Football League 125th Anniversary poll of Brentford's best ever captains.
Club career
Early years
Coote began his career as a youth at Alperton Old Boys, a team managed by the father of future England manager Ron Greenwood. He moved on to join Middlesex Senior League side Wembley as an amateur and impressed enough to spend two weeks on trial at Division One side Burnley in the spring of 1949.
Brentford
Ron Greenwood, then playing for Division Two side Brentford, knew of Coote and recommended to manager Jackie Gibbons that Brentford sign him. Coote duly signed for the Bees and made his debut for the club in a 4–1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Griffin Park on the opening day of the 1949–50 season. He began his Brentford career as an inside left and scored his first goal for the club after 20 seconds of an eventual 4–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers in September 1949. Coote's Brentford career failed to ignite until player-manager Tommy Lawton selected him as left half for a match versus Notts County in March 1953. Coote gave a strong performance in a 5–0 victory which eased the club's fears of relegation to Division Three.
Coote became a near-ever present for Brentford and remained with the club after suffering relegation to the Division Three South in the 1953–54 season. Coote's durability saw him claim the club record for consecutive FA Cup appearances, with 30. After missing the first 9 games of the 1954–55 season, Coote missed only 16 of the club's next 378 league games. Ever-increasingly used as a utility man, Coote filled eight different positions during his time at Griffin Park. Attention from Division One clubs Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion came his way, but deals never materialised. At the end of the 1960–61 season, Coote was jointly-awarded a testimonial with Johnny Rainford versus an All Star XI for his service to the club.
Despite his durability, it was only during the 1962–63 season that Coote was an ever-present and he capped his campaign by captaining the Bees to the Division Four title. Coote made his final appearance in December 1963 and finished his career having made 559 appearances for Brentford. Coote's career virtually ran in parallel with goalkeeper Gerry Cakebread and both players were named on the teamsheet together 357 times. He remains the club's record appearance-maker and (rarely for a defender) was never booked in his career. Coote was offered opportunities to continue his career in Non-League football, but chose to remain retired. He was awarded a second testimonial in September 1965.
Representative career
Coote's exploits for Brentford saw him win representative honours. He was named as a reserve for the Third Division South representative side in a match against the Third Division North in a match on 2 April 1957. Coote also played for the representative London XI side which reached the final of the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, appearing in the group stage and semi-finals against a Basel XI and Lausanne Sports respectively. Coote appeared in the first leg of the final, which was drawn 2–2 with Barcelona.
Personal life
After completing his National Service and before signing for Brentford, Coote worked for his father in removals. After retiring from football, Coote used the £1,000 earned from his second testimonial match to buy a three-bedroom semi-detached house in the Brentford area. He later became manager of a betting shop in Hounslow, owned by former Brentford teammate Frank Morrad. On 2 August 2003, Coote died aged 75 following a short illness. He had been living in Whitton.
Honours
As a player
Brentford
- Football League Division Four: 1962–63
As an individual
- Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year: 1961–62
- Brentford Hall of Fame
- ^
- "Kevin O'Connor and Marcus Gayle join others in being added to Brentford FC Hall of Fame". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1949–50 | Second Division | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 20 | 3 | |
| 1950–51 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | |||
| 1951–52 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | 28 | 4 | |||
| 1952–53 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | |||
| 1953–54 | 40 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 0 | |||
| 1954–55 | Third Division South | 37 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 43 | 1 | ||
| 1955–56 | 45 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 47 | 2 | |||
| 1956–57 | 44 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 47 | 1 | |||
| 1957–58 | 45 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 46 | 2 | |||
| 1958–59 | Third Division | 44 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 48 | 0 | ||
| 1959–60 | 42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 44 | 0 | |||
| 1960–61 | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 46 | 0 | ||
| 1961–62 | 45 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 0 | ||
| 1962–63 | Fourth Division | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 49 | 0 | |
| 1963–64 | Third Division | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| Career total | 514 | 14 | 35 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 559 | 15 | ||