Joseph Cockroft (20 June 1911 – February 1994) 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 lea ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for Rotherham United,

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

and Sheffield United. Cockroft played for Yorkshire Paper Mills, Barnsley Old Boys, Ardsley Athletic, Wombwell, Rotherham United and then Gainsborough Trinity before moving to

, then of Division Two, in 1933. Signed after a months trial from Gainsborough by Charlie Paynter, Cockroft made his West Ham debut on 14 April 1933, having made just four reserve appearances for the club. Drafted in after injuries to first-choice left-halves

Albert Cadwell Albert Cadwell (1 November 1900 – 13 July 1944) was an English Association football, footballer who played for West Ham United F.C., West Ham United as a left-half. Cadwell was born in Edmonton, London, and joined West Ham from Nunhead F.C. ...

and Joe Musgrave, he made the position his own and rarely missed a game up to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Cockroft played as a left-half, but often switched positions with

Len Goulden Leonard Arthur Goulden (16 July 1912 – 14 February 1995) was an English association football, footballer who played as an inside-left. His son Roy Goulden, Roy was also a footballer. Club career Goulden was born at Homerton, in Hackney, Lond ...

during matches to dumbfound oppositions. He was an ever-present in the team for the 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36 and 1936–37 seasons, making 217 consecutive appearances. Cockroft played in the first three games of the 1939–40 season, but these were expunged from the records after the League was suspended following the outbreak of World War II. The war saw Cockroft's home destroyed in

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

. He was part of West Ham's War Cup-winning side of 1940, appearing in all 9 games including the final, and made 20 appearances in the League South. He guested for

as direction of labour laws compelled his employment at

Edgar Allen and Company Edgar Allen and Company was a steel maker and engineer, which from the late 19th century was based at Imperial Steel Works, Tinsley, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. The site was bounded by Sheffield Road, Vulcan Road and the Sheffield District Railway ...

, a

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. He made 198 wartime appearances for Wednesday, more than any other player, and scored 13 goals. He played for the Owls in the northern final of the War Cup in 1943, and went on to join the club after hostilities ended. Cockroft spent almost three years at Hillsborough after the war, making a total of 97 appearances in all competitions. His debut came on 5 January 1946 in a goalless

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

3rd round first leg game against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. He went on to play in all of the Owls' FA Cup games in the 1945–46 season; the club were eventually knocked out by Stoke City in the 5th round following comprehensive wins over York City and Mansfield. He joined Sheffield United for £4,000 in November 1948 and became the oldest First Division debutant as a 37-year-old. He left a year later to take on a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

role at Wisbech Town. His tenure of 1,065 days makes him one of Wisbech's longest serving managers. He was also an FA coach, outside of football, Cockroft had many other interests. He was a keen golfer, swimmer and motorist, and was also interested in anatomy. He was landlord of the Angel Inn,

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

. He retired to

Hunstanton Hunstanton (sometimes pronounced ) is a seaside resort, seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash. Hunstanton lies 102 miles (164 km) north-north-east of London an ...

, Norfolk with his wife Winifred. He died on 8 February 1994. He had two children, a son Terry and daughter Joyce.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockroft, Joe 1911 births 1994 deaths Footballers from Barnsley English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Wombwell F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Wisbech Town F.C. players English Football League players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. wartime guest players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. wartime guest players English football managers People educated at Dinnington High School 20th-century English sportsmen