Jack Frank Porteous Cork (born 25 June 1989) is an English professional

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 plays as a

midfielder 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 ...

for club

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

and the English national team. He played for the

Great Britain Olympic team Athletes from the United Kingdom, all but three of its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories, and the three Crown Dependencies, can compete in the Olympic Games as part of Team GB. Athletes from Northern Ireland (part of the UK) can ...

at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Cork started off his career with

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

but between 2006 and 2011, he went on loan to a number of clubs, including Scunthorpe United where he was named player of the year. Without making an appearance for Chelsea, he signed permanently to Championship club

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 2011 where he made over 100 appearances for them and helped them gain promotion to the Premier League by featuring in all their matches. Cork spent two and a half years with Premier League club Swansea City from January 2015 to July 2017 before his permanent move to Burnley where he featured in every match en route of the club qualifying to the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. Cork has featured for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from U16 in 2005 to U21 between 2008 and 2011, the Great Britain Olympic team and once for the senior national team.

Early life

Cork was born in

Carshalton Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalto ...

, London. He is the son of former footballer and manager

Alan Cork Alan Graham Cork (born 4 March 1959) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a striker for several clubs, most notably Wimbledon (where he spent 14 years, played in all four divisions of the Football League and gained an FA C ...

Career

Chelsea

Cork joined the

youth system up age of nine, and captained both the club's youth and reserve teams. During the 2006–07 season, Cork twice went on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club AFC Bournemouth. Cork was selected to go on Chelsea's pre-season tour of the United States in summer 2007. He made his first appearance for the first team against Club América on 14 July. He played out-of-position at left back for most of the tour. Cork spent the 2007–08 season on loan at newly promoted

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club Scunthorpe United. His first league goals came for Scunthorpe, both against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

; in a 1–1 away draw on 27 November 2007 and in a 2–1 home victory on 1 March 2008. After 35 appearances, despite Scunthorpe's relegation from the Championship, he was voted the club's Player of the Year. On 21 August 2008, Cork joined Championship club

on loan until 1 January 2009. In January 2009, Cork joined Championship club

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season. He scored his first goal for Watford on 24 January 2009 in a 4–3 victory over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in the fourth round of 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 competi ...

. Cork signed a new three-year contract with Chelsea on 21 August 2009 and immediately joined Championship club Coventry City on loan until the end of December 2009. On 1 February 2010, Cork joined Premier League club

on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season. He made his first appearance for Burnley in a 3–0 defeat away to Fulham on his Premier League debut. He then played in a 5–2 defeat against Aston Villa on 21 February 2010 and assisted Burnley's second goal. Cork scored his first goal for Burnley on 9 May 2010 in a 4–2 home win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, with a diving header to score Burnley's second to turn over a two-goal lead. His father revealed the day before in a local newspaper, the ''

Lancashire Telegraph The ''Lancashire Telegraph'', formerly the ''Lancashire Evening Telegraph'', is a local tabloid newspaper distributed in East Lancashire, England. It is edited by Karl Holbrook. There are around twenty towns in the area, including Blackburn, B ...

'', that Cork was looking to leave Chelsea in the summer and was willing to drop down into the Championship in order to do so. On 8 August 2010, Chelsea said that they would allow Cork to leave the club and were looking for offers of around £2 million. On 12 August, Cork re-joined Burnley on loan for the 2010–11 season. Cork scored a last minute winner at home to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

on 27 November, taking Burnley into the play-off positions.

Southampton

On 7 July 2011, Cork signed for newly promoted Championship club Southampton, after they agreed an undisclosed fee with Chelsea. Cork ended the 2011–12 season as the only Southampton player who appeared in every league match, as the club earned promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

as runners-up in the Championship. Cork missed Southampton's opening fixtures of the

2012–13 Premier League The 2012–13 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season of the Premier League, the English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 114 ...

, due to an ankle injury, sustained against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in a friendly and a League Cup victory over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

. On 26 August 2014, he scored his first goal for Southampton in a 2–0 away victory over

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

in the second round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. He scored his first league goal for the club in a 4–0 home win over Newcastle United on 13 September 2014 and his second and final league goal for the club came in an 8–0 home win over Sunderland on 18 October.

Swansea City

Cork signed for Southampton's Premier League rivals Swansea City on 30 January 2015 on a three-and-a-half-year contract, for a fee "believed to be in the region of £3 million". On 25 April 2015, he scored his first goal for Swansea in a 3–2 away win over Newcastle United. Over a year after his first goal for the club, on 1 May 2016, he scored his second, with a 20-yard curling shot in a 3–1 home victory over

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. This victory helped secure Swansea's Premier League status for the 2016–17 season.

Burnley

Cork returned to Premier League club Burnley on 11 July 2017 on a four-year contract, for fee reported to be in the region of £8 million, rising to £10 million with add-ons. He scored his first goal on his return to Burnley in an EFL Cup tie against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on 23 August 2017. His first Premier League goal for Burnley came against his former club Swansea City in a 2–0 win on 18 November. That goal ended a run of 43 appearances without a goal for the player. On 16 August 2018, he scored the winning goal in Burnley's 1–0 victory over İstanbul Başakşehir in the Europa League qualifiers. On 20 June 2022, following relegation to the Championship, Cork signed a new two-year contract with the club.

International career

England

Cork has represented England at many youth levels, making his under-19 debut against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in May 2007. He captained the England U19 squad to make the

2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 24th UEFA European Under-19 Championship, UEFA's premier competition for players under the age of 19. The tournament was held in the Czech Republic with matches played fro ...

, and was part of the under-21 squad at the

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

. On 7 November 2017, Cork was called into the

squad for friendly matches against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He made his debut on 10 November 2017 as an 86th-minute substitute in a 0–0 draw against Germany at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

Great Britain Olympic team

On 2 July 2012, Cork was named in Stuart Pearce's 18-man

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He made his debut on 20 July in a 2–0 loss to

in a pre-tournament friendly, coming on at half-time to replace

Daniel Sturridge Daniel Andre Sturridge (; born 1 September 1989) is an English professional footballer who last played as a striker. As well as representing England, he has played in the Premier League for Manchester City, Chelsea, Bolton Wanderers, Liverpool ...

. He played as a substitute in each of Great Britain's three group matches, and was an unused substitute as the team were knocked out by

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

in the quarter-final.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Individual * Scunthorpe United Player of the Year: 2007–08

References

External links

Profile
at the Burnley F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cork, Jack 1989 births Living people Footballers from Carshalton English footballers Association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Watford F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players England youth international footballers England under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers of Great Britain England international footballers Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics