Sam Benjamin Cosgrove (born 2 December 1996) is an English professional
footballer who plays as a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
for club
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
. He began his career with
Wigan Athletic, and had loan spells in
non-league football
Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...
with
Barrow
Barrow may refer to:
Places
England
* Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area
** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
* Barrow, Cheshire
* Barrow, Gloucestershire
* Barro ...
,
Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...
,
Nantwich Town and
North Ferriby United before making his
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 ...
debut with
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
. A successful three seasons with
Aberdeen in the
Scottish Premiership preceded a return to English football with
Birmingham City in 2021. After loans at
Shrewsbury Town,
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...
and
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, ...
, he signed for Barnsley in 2023.
Career
Early life and career
Cosgrove was born in 1996 in
Beverley, in the
East Riding of Yorkshire.
[ His family moved to ]Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
while he was still a baby, and he attended Knutsford High School
Knutsford Academy, formerly known as Knutsford High School, is a secondary school in Knutsford, Cheshire, England. It has Specialist School Status in the areas of English and Humanities. As of 2014, it also includes a Studio school site.
Histo ...
. He grew up as a 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 tw ...
fan. Cosgrove began his youth football career as an under-10 with Everton, but was released at 16. He signed scholarship forms with Wigan Athletic in 2013, and took his A levels
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
during that time rather than the standard sports-related BTEC course.
Cosgrove's first matchday involvement with the senior team came while he was still a second-year scholar, as part of his development process, when manager Malky Mackay named him as a substitute for the FA Cup third round visit to Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
on 3 January 2015. He remained part of the squad for four league matches during January, each time as an unused substitute.[ Having scored 44 goals from 40 matches over two years with Wigan's Under-18 team,][ he was one of six scholars to be offered their first professional contracts.]
In the 2015–16 season, Cosgrove gained experience from three spells on loan
In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...
in non-league football
Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...
. He made his senior debut for National League club Barrow
Barrow may refer to:
Places
England
* Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area
** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
* Barrow, Cheshire
* Barrow, Gloucestershire
* Barro ...
on 18 August 2015, as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw with Guiseley. Starting in place of the injured Andy Cook, he "produced a solid display" in the next game, a defeat to Cheltenham Town,[ but after Cook's return he played only a few minutes' football and was recalled by Wigan.][ He joined ]Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...
on 25 November until the following 2 January, and played only 20 minutes in the National League North.[ but after his winning goal in a Lancashire Challenge Trophy match, Chorley manager ]Matt Jansen
Matthew Brooke Jansen (born 20 October 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He started his career with hometown club Carlisle United, and also played for Crystal Palace, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wander ...
said that Cosgrove had "pace to burn, he's big and strong and if he believes in himself he could do very well." His third loan was at Nantwich Town of the Northern Premier League Premier Division. A debut goal was disallowed for offside, but he did score Nantwich's 100th goal of the season a few weeks later.
Cosgrove signed a one-year contract with Wigan in June 2016,[ and made his debut as a late substitute in the ]EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
against Oldham Athletic in August. He spent the second half of the on loan at North Ferriby United, made 14 National League appearances (3 starts) without scoring,[ and was released by Wigan when his contract expired.]
Carlisle United
After a trial in pre-season, Cosgrove signed for League Two club Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
on 1 August 2017 on a short–term deal until January. Against Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed ...
in the first round of the EFL Cup on 8 August, he came on as a 90th-minute substitute and helped the team win 2–1 after extra time. Four days later, he made his 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 ...
debut, again as a substitute, in a 2–1 win against Cambridge United. Cosgrove found his first-team opportunities limited: he was a regular on the bench but rarely left it.[ He made an unexpected first start on New Year's Day in a loss to Mansfield Town, he was man of the match in a goalless draw with Championship club Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup, his contract was extended to the end of the season, and on 13 January he scored his first goal to secure a 1–0 win against Crewe Alexandra. He played twice more before the club accepted a bid for his services.][
]
Aberdeen
On 31 January 2018, Cosgrove signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen for an undisclosed fee, variously reported as £25,000, £30,000,[ or £40,000. The player had signed a pre-contract agreement with Aberdeen to join at the end of the season, but the Carlisle club "reluctantly" decided it would be better not to wait.] Eight minutes into his debut, a 2–0 defeat against Celtic on 25 February, he was sent off for a "reckless challenge" on opposing captain Scott Brown. After playing just 11 minutes in the Scottish Cup over the next few weeks, he made his first Aberdeen start on 27 April, set up a goal for Anthony O'Connor in a 2–0 win against Hearts, and helped them beat Celtic in the last match of the season to finish as runners-up.
Aberdeen legend Willie Miller wrote that Cosgrove was well placed to fill the striker vacancy caused by Adam Rooney's departure, and might have the mentality to seize the opportunity, but his impression was that manager Derek McInnes felt he "still ada lot of developing to do". McInnes spoke of the importance to the team of his "size, his strength, his willingness to occupy defenders" after Cosgrove scored an "emphatic header" against West Bromwich Albion in pre-season. In the Europa League qualifier against Burnley, he won a penalty, converted by Gary Mackay-Steven to open the scoring in a 1–1 draw; although they lost the second leg after extra time, he took confidence from performing well against top-class defenders.[ Alternating between starter and substitute,][ he finally scored for the club on his 17th appearance, with two goals in a 4–1 win against St Mirren on 6 October.
Cosgrove started the Scottish League Cup Final, which Aberdeen lost 1–0 to Celtic on 2 December. In the next match, in which Aberdeen beat ]Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
at Ibrox, he was sent off for a second bookable offence which pundits felt was not a foul. After serving a one-match ban, he scored and assisted in a 3–2 win against Livingston; a booking for simulation was rescinded. Six more goals in December earned him the Scottish Premiership Player of the Month award.[ He signed a contract extension to 2022,][ scored three more goals in January and five in February, but then his scoring form dipped. He reached his target of 20 on 6 April, but it was the last day of the season before the 21st arrived.][ His 17 Premiership goals placed him second only to Rangers' Alfredo Morelos (18) as top scorer.][
Strike partner ]Stevie May
Steven May (born 3 November 1992) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone as a striker. May has previously played in the Scottish leagues for St Johnstone, Alloa Athletic, Hamilton Academical a ...
saw the team's improved creativity as a factor in Cosgrove's greater effectiveness, while McInnes highlighted how a focus on "movement, anticipation and speed of thought" helped him react more like a smaller striker than a pure target man.[ He became increasingly "capable of impacting games from a deeper position" using his pace.] Six goals in four Europa League qualifiers, including a hat-trick against Chikhura Sachkhere
Football Club Chikhura Sachkhere, commonly known as Chikhura Sachkhere or simply Chikhura, is a Georgian football club based in Sachkhere.
After the 2022 season they were relegated to Liga 4, the fourth tier of Georgian league system.
Hi ...
, proved McInnes' point that Aberdeen had been right to persevere with Cosgrove despite media criticism. He continued with two goals in a 3–2 league win against Hearts, an extra-time winner in the League Cup, and 11 goals from his next 18 matches,[ in the last of which he was controversially sent off for a forceful tackle. He set himself a 30-goal target, last achieved for Aberdeen by ]Joe Harper
Joseph Montgomery Harper (born 11 January 1948) is a Scottish former footballer, mainly remembered for his two spells with Aberdeen, during which he won the three main domestic trophies once each and became the club's record goalscorer with 20 ...
in 1978–79, but a seven-match goal drought and a back injury left him on 23 and the team in fourth place when the season was curtailed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[
Despite reports of interest from clubs in England and further afield during the past season, Aberdeen confirmed that there had been no offers.][ In July 2020, the club accepted a bid in excess of £2 million from French club Guingamp for Cosgrove, who rejected the move. He then damaged a knee and was out for three months,] during which time he was one of eight Aberdeen players who were heavily fined by the club and received a suspended three-match ban from the Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
after breaching COVID protocols by visiting a bar as a group. He returned to action on 25 October, set up a goal for Ryan Hedges
Ryan Peter Hedges (born 8 July 1995) is a professional footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers and the Wales national football team.
He made his professional debut for Leyton Orient in January 2015, on loan from Swansea City. After further ...
in a 3–3 draw with Celtic, and scored two weeks later,[ but his lack of match fitness was telling. He was not starting regularly, and fellow striker Curtis Main was out of form; by the end of January, they had three goals apiece. Financial Fair Play restrictions reportedly put Cosgrove out of Sheffield Wednesday's reach, but a £2 million bid from Birmingham City was accepted.][
]
Birmingham City
Cosgrove signed a three-and-a-half year contract with Championship club Birmingham City on 31 January 2021. The fee was officially undisclosed. The '' News and Star'' reported that Carlisle United would benefit from a sell-on clause, possibly to the extent of 20% of Aberdeen's profit on the deal. He made his debut on 6 February as a very late substitute in a 3–2 defeat away to AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
,[ but although the team were in need of goals and head coach Aitor Karanka stated that if the January signings "don't start ]n 13 February
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
they will do it soon", his three appearances before Karanka was sacked a month later were all from the bench. Incoming head coach Lee Bowyer, tasked with achieving Championship survival, selected Scott Hogan
Scott Andrew Hogan (born 13 April 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Birmingham City and the Republic of Ireland national team.
Hogan played in the youth system at Rochdale but was released in 2010. He ent ...
and Lukas Jutkiewicz
Lukas Isaac Paul Jutkiewicz (born 28 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Birmingham City. He previously played for Swindon Town, Everton, Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town, Motherwell, Coven ...
as his strike pairing of choice. He saw Cosgrove as a potential like-for-like replacement for Jutkiewicz, but without the latter's physicality and consistency of performance, and it was only when relegation was avoided with two matches still to play that Cosgrove made his first start as one of the many squad players whom Bowyer wanted to assess.
Loans to Shrewsbury Town and AFC Wimbledon
He joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on 11 August 2021 on loan for the season, and made his debut three days later away to Morecambe
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...
, replacing Nathanael Ogbeta
Nathanael Simeon Ogbeta (born 28 April 2001) is an English people, English professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, full back for club Swansea City A.F.C., Swansea City. He will sign ...
at half-time with his side 2–0 down. Although his side were, according to the '' Shropshire Star'', "much sharper after the break", the score remained unchanged.
Cosgrove was recalled from Shrewsbury and signed for another League One team, AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...
, on 31 January 2022 on loan for the rest of the season. Not registered in time for the next day's match, he started and played 67 minutes in a 3–2 defeat away to Charlton Athletic on 5 February.
Loan to Plymouth Argyle
He made three first-team appearances for Birmingham in August 2022, before returning to League One when he joined 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, ...
on 1 September on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his debut two days later, coming on after 75 minutes of Argyle's visit to Derby County with his side 2–1 down. With his first touch of the ball, he turned Niall Ennis
Niall Nathan Michael Ennis (born 20 May 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Stoke City.
Ennis began his career with his local team Wolverhampton Wanderers, progressing through their academy. After loan ...
's cross-shot into the net, and on 90 minutes, he broke at pace and beat the goalkeeper with a low shot to secure a 3–2 win.
On 21 December, Cosgrove scored a second-half hat-trick against AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
. Argyle trailed 3–0 at half-time, but Cosgrove's goals against his former club took the tie to penalties
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* P ...
, which Plymouth won 4–3 to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Cosgrove ended his spell at Plymouth with a League One winners' medal. He scored twelve goals in all competitions for the club.[
]
Barnsley
Cosgrove played twice for Birmingham in the 2023–24 EFL Cup and was a regular on the bench in Championship matches, before he was released on 1 September to enable him to join League One club Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
on a two-year contract.
Career statistics
Honours
Plymouth Argyle
*EFL 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 ...
: 2022–23
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
*EFL Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
runner-up: 2022–23
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosgrove, Sam
1996 births
Living people
Footballers from Beverley
English men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Wigan Athletic F.C. players
Barrow A.F.C. players
Chorley F.C. players
Nantwich Town F.C. players
North Ferriby United A.F.C. players
Carlisle United F.C. players
Aberdeen F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
Shrewsbury Town F.C. players
AFC Wimbledon players
Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
Barnsley F.C. players
National League (English football) players
English Football League players
Scottish Professional Football League players