Billy Cook (footballer, born 1909)

William Cook (20 January 1909 – 11 December 1992) was a Northern Irish professional football player and manager. He was capped 15 times for Ireland.[2]

Billy Cook
Personal information
Full name William Cook[1]
Date of birth (1909-01-20)20 January 1909
Place of birth Coleraine, Ireland
Date of death 11 December 1992(1992-12-11) (aged 83)
Place of death Liverpool, England
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1928–1930 Port Glasgow Athletic Juniors
1930–1932 Celtic 100 (0)
1932–1939 Everton 228 (5)
1945–1946 Wrexham
1946 Ellesmere Port Town
1946–1947 Rhyl
International career
1932–1939 Ireland 15 (0)
Managerial career
1946–1947 Rhyl (player-manager)
1947 Brann
1948–1949 Sunderland (coach)
1949–1951 Brann
1953 Peru
1954–1955 Portadown
1955–1956 Iraq
1956 Wigan Athletic
1957–1958 Crewe Alexandra (coach)
1958 Norwich City (coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Cook began his football career in Scotland with Junior side Port Glasgow Athletic Juniors.[3] He signed for Celtic in February 1930, and made his debut within the week in a 4–0 win over Ayr United. He established himself in the side, and at the end of the following season won a Scottish Cup medal when Celtic defeated Motherwell in the final after a replay.[3][4] Cook usually played at right-back, but could also play as a left-back when the need arose.[3]

In December 1932, Cook was transferred to Everton for £3,000.[3] It was a surprise move at the time and he is considered one of the first high-profile players to leave Celtic mid season for another club. Cook stated that the reasons for the move were financial.[3] He enjoyed immediate success at Goodison Park, helping Everton win the 1933 FA Cup Final with a 3–0 win over Manchester City at Wembley.[3] On his death in December 1992, almost 60 years later, he was the last surviving player from that team.[5] A League championship win followed in 1939, but the outbreak of World War II prevented Everton from building further on this success.[3] In his time at Everton, Cook made 250 appearances and scored six goals.[5]

During the war years, Cook guested for several clubs throughout Britain. Following the end of the war, he had brief spells at Wrexham and Ellesmere Port Town before joining Rhyl as player-manager in October 1946.[3]

Cook became coach at Norwegian club SK Brann in 1947, before returning to the UK to briefly coach Sunderland. The next few years saw Cook travelling extensively; rejoining SK Brann for a couple of years, moving to South America to coach the Peru national side, before returning home in 1954 as manager of Portadown. Then after a spell as Youth team manager of Northern Ireland he went abroad again, spending a year as manager of the Iraq national side. He returned to the UK again in 1956, with spells as manager at Wigan and Crewe before becoming trainer-coach at Norwich in 1958.[3]

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 64. ISBN 978-1905891610.
  2. "William Cook - national football team player". Eu-football.info. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  3. "Billy Cook". Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  4. "4-2 v Motherwell in Scottish Cup (15/04/1931)". FitbaStats. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  5. "Players - Billy Cook". Everton FC. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
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