 Cooke circa 1980 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Charles Cooke[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1942-10-14)14 October 1942 (age 83) | ||
| Place of birth | St Monans,Fife, Scotland[2] | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft8+1⁄2 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Port Glasgow | |||
| Renfrew Juniors | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1960–1964 | Aberdeen | 125 | (27) |
| 1964–1966 | Dundee | 44 | (11) |
| 1966–1972 | Chelsea | 212 | (15) |
| 1972–1974 | Crystal Palace | 44 | (0) |
| 1974–1978 | Chelsea | 87 | (7) |
| 1976–1978 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 48 | (6) |
| 1978–1980 | Memphis Rogues | 54 | (3) |
| 1979–1980 | Memphis Rogues (indoor) | 11 | (3) |
| 1980–1981 | Calgary Boomers (indoor) | 18 | (4) |
| 1981 | California Surf | 29 | (3) |
| 1981–1982 | Cleveland Force (indoor) | 19 | (4) |
| 1985 | Dallas Sidekicks (indoor) | 2 | (0) |
| Total | 693 | (83) | |
| International career | |||
| 1962–1965 | Scottish League XI | 4 | (3) |
| 1962–1968 | Scotland U23 | 5 | (0) |
| 1965–1975 | Scotland | 16 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1979–1980 | Memphis Rogues | ||
| 1986–1988 | Wichita Wings | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Charles Cooke (born 14 October 1942) is a Scottish formerfootballer who played as awinger forAberdeen,Dundee,Chelsea andCrystal Palace, before ending his career in the United States.
After playing at youth level forPort Glasgow and Renfrew Juniors,[3] Cooke began his professional career with Aberdeen in 1960, making his first team debut on 13 August in a 4–3Scottish League Cup victory overAyr United.[2] He moved to Dundee in December 1964, where he was voted player of the year. He signed for Chelsea in April 1966 for a then club record of £72,000 as part of managerTommy Docherty's restructuring of the Chelsea side. He made his debut in May 1966 during a 2–0Inter-Cities Fairs Cup win overFC Barcelona. On his league debut the following season againstWest Ham United, Cooke waltzed pastEngland'sWorld Cup-winning captainBobby Moore en route to scoring the winner for Chelsea. Cooke took the place ofBert Murray on the right wing as several players were replaced owing to a growing rift between Docherty and his players. He proved a versatile player when the post World Cup tactics limited the use of wingers and he was often played in a deeper right midfield position behindTommy Baldwin who had replacedGeorge Graham in a direct swap between Chelsea and Arsenal. His debut season saw Chelsea reach theFA Cup final againstTottenham Hotspur (Cooke's cross had createdTony Hateley's winner for Chelsea in the semi-final againstLeeds United). Cooke had a shot tipped over the bar byPat Jennings early on, but Chelsea generally underperformed and lost 2–1.
In the early 1970s, Cooke was one of the star players in a flamboyant Chelsea side, alongsidePeter Bonetti,Peter Osgood,Alan Hudson andIan Hutchinson. They reached another FA Cup final, against Leeds United, in1970. The first game ended 2–2 and, with Chelsea trailing 1–0 in the replay atOld Trafford with the clock running down, Cooke's run and chipped pass set up Osgood's equaliser with a diving header; Chelsea eventually won 2–1 afterextra time. TheCup Winners' Cup was added in 1971 with a replayed win overReal Madrid in Athens. Chelsea reached a third consecutive cup final in 1972, this time theLeague Cup, and though Cooke again created the equaliser for Osgood, Chelsea lost toStoke City.
He was sold toCrystal Palace shortly afterwards for £85,000 and made 44 appearances for theSouth London side, but returned to Chelsea a year later. By that stage, the club were in decline and were relegated in1974–75, though Cooke's experience proved invaluable in helping manager and ex-teammateEddie McCreadie's young side earn promotion again in1976–77. In his two spells at Chelsea, Cooke made 373 appearances, scoring 30 goals.
Cooke left Chelsea for the second and final time in July 1978 to play for numerous American teams, including theMemphis Rogues,Los Angeles Aztecs andCalifornia Surf in the now-defunctNASL.
He was aScotland international, winning 16 caps.[4] He made his debut in a 4–1 win overWales in 1965 and played his final match in 1975 againstPortugal.[4] He also won 5 caps for the under-23 side between 1962 and 1968.[5]
In 1979, he replaced his old Chelsea teammate, Eddie McCreadie, as the head coach of theMemphis Rogues. After new ownership moved the team toCalgary, Cooke himself moved to theCalifornia Surf where he played one last outdoor season. After this however, he continued to play in the indoor leagues, making his last appearance in the 1985–86 season for theDallas Sidekicks, after which he took charge of theWichita Wings.[6]
He now runs a soccer school inCincinnati,Ohio. In 2006, his autobiographyThe Bonnie Prince, written withMartin Knight, was published.
| Club | Season | Division | League | National Cup | Other Cups | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Aberdeen | 1960–61 | Scottish Division One | 32 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 39 | 10 | |
| 1961–62 | Scottish Division One | 29 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | 39 | 7 | ||
| 1962–63 | Scottish Division One | 27 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 36 | 8 | ||
| 1963–64 | Scottish Division One | 22 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 30 | 3 | ||
| 1964–65 | Scottish Division One | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 21 | 2 | ||
| Total | 125 | 27 | 14 | 0 | 26 | 3 | — | 165 | 30 | |||
| Dundee | 1964–65 | Scottish Division One | 18 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 7 |
| 1965–66 | Scottish Division One | 26 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 34 | 4 | ||
| Total | 44 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 11 | ||
| Chelsea | 1965–66 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1966–67 | First Division | 33 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 3 | ||
| 1967–68 | First Division | 41 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 47 | 5 | ||
| 1968–69 | First Division | 26 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 36 | 2 | |
| 1969–70 | First Division | 35 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 44 | 5 | ||
| 1970–71 | First Division | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 45 | 1 | |
| 1971–72 | First Division | 38 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 4 | |
| 1972–73 | First Division | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 2 | ||
| Total | 212 | 15 | 29 | 3 | 19 | 3 | 17 | 1 | 277 | 22 | ||
| Crystal Palace | 1972–73 | First Division | 29 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 36 | 1 | |
| 1973–74 | Second Division | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| Total | 44 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 53 | 1 | |||
| Chelsea | 1973–74 | First Division | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | |
| 1974–75 | First Division | 39 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 44 | 6 | ||
| 1975–76 | Second Division | 17 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 20 | 1 | ||
| 1976–77 | Second Division | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1977–78 | First Division | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Total | 87 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 96 | 8 | |||
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 1976 | NASL | 12 | 2 | — | — | — | 12 | 2 | |||
| 1977 | NASL | 20 | 2 | — | — | — | 20 | 2 | ||||
| 1978 | NASL | 16 | 2 | — | — | — | 16 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 48 | 6 | — | — | — | 48 | 6 | |||||
| Memphis Rogues | 1978 | NASL | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| 1979 | NASL | 22 | 2 | — | — | — | 22 | 2 | ||||
| 1980 | NASL | 25 | 1 | — | — | — | 25 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 54 | 3 | — | — | — | 54 | 3 | |||||
| Memphis Rogues (indoor) | 1979–80 | NASL Indoor | 11 | 3 | — | — | — | 11 | 3 | |||
| Calgary Boomers (indoor) | 1980–81 | NASL Indoor | 18 | 4 | — | — | — | 18 | 4 | |||
| California Surf | 1981 | NASL | 29 | 3 | — | — | — | 29 | 3 | |||
| Cleveland Force (indoor) | 1981–82 | MISL | 19 | 4 | — | — | — | 19 | 4 | |||
| Dallas Sidekicks (indoor) | 1985–86 | MISL | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 693 | 83 | 55 | 4 | 66 | 7 | 17 | 1 | 831 | 95 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1965 | 2 | 0 |
| 1966 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1968 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1969 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1971 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1975 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 16 | 0 | |
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Memphis Rogues[12] | 1979 | 1980 | 54 | 18 | 0 | 36 | 033.33 |
| Memphis Rogues (indoor)[12] | 1979 | 1980 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 075.00 |
| Wichita Wings (indoor)[6] | 1986 | 30 January 1988 | 79 | 38 | 0 | 41 | 048.10 |
| Total | 145 | 65 | 0 | 80 | 044.83 | ||
Chelsea
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |