Jimmy Cookson bearing down on the goalkeeper in the hunt for a goal at West Brom

James Cookson (6 December 1904 – 14th December 1970) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

, Chesterfield,

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

and

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

Life and career

Cookson was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. He began his career as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

with South Salford Lad's Club and then played for Clayton and Manchester North End. He turned professional with

in August 1923, but was unable to break into the first team and was sent to

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

on loan for a trial period in 1924. He was transferred to Chesterfield in April 1925, and converted to a

. He was the leading goalscorer in the Third Division North for the 1925–26 season with 44 goals, and scored 85 overall in 74 league appearances. In August 1927, he joined

for a £2,500 fee. He continued to score goals at his new club and was a member of the 1930–31 squad that won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

and promotion to the First Division. Later in 1931, Cookson was selected for

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world ...

tour of Canada. He scored 103 league goals in 122 matches for Albion, including six in a Second Division game against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

in 1927. Cookson was also the leading goalscorer in the Second Division for the 1927–28 season with 38 goals. Cookson maintained his high goalscoring ratio after joining Second Division club

in 1933. He scored 28 goals in his first season with Argyle, including 27 in 29 league appearances, but injuries restricted his playing time over the next two campaigns. Cookson managed a further 10 goals in 17 matches to bring his overall tally to 38 goals in 48 games. He moved to

in 1936, where he played on for two more seasons, and scored 31 goals in 50 league appearances. Cookson retired from the game in May 1938 to become a

publican In antiquity, publicans (Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'' (singular); Latin ''publicanus'' (singular); ''publicani'' (plural)) were public contractors, in whose official capacity they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the c ...

. Cookson's Football League record of 256 goals scored in 292 appearances is one of the best in the League's history. His great quality was a willingness to shoot, and shoot early, whenever a chance presented itself. Cookson died in

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

on 14th December 1970.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cookson, Jimmy 1904 births Footballers from Manchester English footballers Association football forwards Manchester City F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players English Football League players 1970 deaths