Terence John Cooke (born 5 August 1976) is an English former 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 lea ...

and youth team coach of the Denver Kickers. As a player he was a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

from 1994 to 2011. Born in

Marston Green Marston Green is a village in the civil parish of Bickenhill and Marston Green, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands. It lies within the historic counties of England, historic county of Warwickshire ...

, he began his career with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, but struggled to break into the first team and had loan spells with

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

before moving to United's local rivals

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in 1999. He also failed to make an impact at City and again went on loan to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

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

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. The loan to Grimsby became permanent in 2002, but he only remained there for a year before rejoining Sheffield Wednesday for a season. In 2005, Cooke's career took him out of England for the first time as he joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

. In four years with the team, he made more than 100 appearances, but he was deemed to be surplus to requirements at the end of the

2009 MLS season The 2009 Major League Soccer season was the 14th season of Major League Soccer. It was also the 97th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 31st with a national first-division league. The Seattle Sounders FC debuted ...

and released from his contract. As a free agent, he was picked up by Australian side

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from th ...

, and 2010–2011 he played for Gabala of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. Cooke also made four appearances for the England under-21 side.

Club career

Manchester United

Cooke grew up as a Birmingham City supporter, and came up through the youth system of

and scored the penalty that clinched the FA Youth Cup in 1995, but only appeared in eight first team matches with the club. He made his debut in a

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

match against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in September 1995, and provided the cross for a

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; born 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach, former player and co-owner of Salford City. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, and one of the best wingers in the history of footba ...

goal, and found himself being tipped for a bright future. He then scored in the second leg of United's League Cup aggregate defeat to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City F.C., York City Football Club and York City Knights, York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it was near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway sta ...

in early October. However, he only played six more games for the club, his first team opportunities severely limited by the excellence of fellow youngster David Beckham in Cooke's favoured position on the right-hand side of midfield. During his time with Manchester United, he was loaned out to

and

Manchester City

Following his loan spell at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...

, Manchester City subsequently bought him for £600,000, potentially rising to £1 million in April 1999. Cooke was part of the City side that earned promotion from Division Two in the 1998–99 season, but lost his place in the team the following season, when City won a second successive promotion to reach the Premier League. While at City, he was loaned out to

(where he scored once against QPR) and

Grimsby Town

Grimsby manager Paul Groves managed to make Cooke's switch to

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9,05 ...

a permanent one, following his release from Manchester City at the end of the 2001–2002 season. While on loan, Cooke scored once, against Norwich in three appearances and did enough to earn himself a full-time position at the club. Cooke was a reasonable success with The Mariners, though his time with the club was overshadowed by an eventual off-field feud with his manager. Also the signing of former Grimsby hero

John Oster John Morgan Oster (born 8 December 1978) is a football coach and former professional player who played as a midfielder. Oster was a product of the youth team at Grimsby Town where he was added to the first team squad in 1994, however he didn't ...

from

on loan had caused Cooke to lose his place in the team, as Oster successfully made the spot on the right wing his, despite the fact Cooke's overall performances beforehand made him one of the more impressive players in a struggling team. After making his move permanent he scored once, his strike coming against Burnley in the FA Cup. Cooke often found himself left out on the substitutes' bench, or not included in the 16-man selection at all, this despite vocal protests from supporters during the games. Grimsby were eventually relegated from the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

, and at the end of the 2002–03 season, Cooke was amongst the number of players who left the club.

Sheffield Wednesday

It was Grimsby's relegation rivals

who would benefit from Cooke's departure from Blundell Park. He signed a one-year deal with the club. After playing out the 2003–04 campaign, at the end of which the Owls avoided relegation, Cooke departed the club and emigrated to the United States.

Colorado Rapids

In 2005, Cooke signed with

, and scored two goals and had two assists during his first MLS season. On 1 April 2008, the Rapids beat

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

4–0. Cooke captained the team in what was their first game of the season, scored a goal and provided two assists, and was voted MLS Player of the Week. Cooke was waived by Colorado at the end of July 2009 to make room for the signing of Jamie Smith from

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. Remaining in the US, he was invited to trial with

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

that August. Cooke trained with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

to regain his fitness, and played in a reserve match against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

, but manager Billy Davies did not offer him a contract.

North Queensland Fury

Cooke arrived in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

to trial with

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

franchise

as a possible replacement for injured fellow Englishman James Robinson. He was signed by Ian Ferguson on 25 November and made his debut against

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

on 28 November. He scored his first goal for the Fury on 13 February against

Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian Association football, soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first ...

, scoring the game-winner in the 83rd minute of a 2–1 victory. After his short-term deal expired Cooke left the Fury as the club fell into administration.

Gabala

Cooke then joined Gabala of

, managed by

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. Known as Mr. Arsenal, he spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre-back t ...

. After making 12 appearances in which he scored one goal, Cooke then suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out for the remainder of the season, at the end of which he was released by the club.

International career

Cooke represented England at U16, U18 and U21 levels, but was never capped by the full senior side.

Coaching career

Cooke is now employed as the Director of Coaching for the Denver Kickers.

Honours

Manchester United *

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

: 1994–95 Manchester City *

Football League Second Division play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Individual * Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year: 1994–95

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Terry 1976 births Living people People from Marston Green Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull English men's footballers Manchester United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Colorado Rapids players Northern Fury FC players Gabala SC players England men's under-21 international footballers English expatriate men's footballers Premier League players A-League Men players English Football League players Major League Soccer players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Men's association football midfielders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan