Carl Edward Richard Cort (born 1 November 1977) is a 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 ...
who played as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
.
He played for
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
,
Lincoln City,
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
,
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
,
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
, Spanish club
UD Marbella
Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997 it currently plays in Tercera Federación – Group 9 (the 5th level of the ...
and
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
,
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
, and
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
side
Tampa Bay Rowdies
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...
.
Born in England, he represented the
Guyana national team at international level.
Career
Wimbledon
Cort, born in London of Guyanese descent, began his career with Wimbledon as a teenager. He went on a one-month loan to Lincoln City in February 1997, and when he came back to the Dons he made his debut as a substitute against
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
on 9 April 1997. He had to wait until the start of the next season to make his second appearance; on 13 September 1997 Cort started away against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
and scored in the first minute as Wimbledon went on to win 3–1. Three days later he scored twice against
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
in the League Cup. A place in the
England under-21s soon followed. Another highlight at Wimbledon was scoring a hat trick against
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
in the League Cup in October 1999.
Newcastle United
Newcastle boss
Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
paid £7 million to sign Cort on a five-year contract in the summer of 2000, seeing off competition from
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
and
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
. After making his debut against
Manchester United
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 City of Salford, Salford to ...
at
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
, he scored on his Newcastle home debut, against
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
, but struggled with hamstring problems and underwent surgery after only a few appearances for his new club. He did eventually return to the first team in March 2001, and went on to score five goals in ten appearances before the season ended.
In the 2001–02 season, injury ruined his season again. Cort was ruled out until March due to injuries to his ankle and knee. He travelled to the United States for specialist treatment and was treated by the same surgeon who treated future teammate
Joleon Lescott. The injuries appeared to take their toll, and Cort struggled to make an impact in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
. His only league appearance in the 2002–03 season was a four-minute cameo as a substitute at
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Having recovered from injury, he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £2 million during January 2004. He scored five goals for his new club that season but could not prevent relegation from the top flight. In the 2004–05 season, his form improved and he scored 16 goals in 40 appearances. Wolves had an indifferent season in 2005–06. Cort began the season well, scoring nine goals in the first 11 matches. Injury interrupted his season again, and by the end of May, Cort had added only two more to his tally, totalling 11 goals in 24 appearances. After the following campaign was again plagued by injury, he was released by Wolves in May 2007.
Leicester City
On 8 June 2007, Cort signed a two-year contract with Leicester City.
He scored his only goal for the club in a 4–3
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
defeat to
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
on 31 October.
Although it won Leicester City's Goal of the Month for October,
Cort failed to score a single league goal, and he was transfer listed on 23 December. He was released by the club by mutual consent on 11 January.
Marbella
On 30 January 2008, Cort joined Spanish club UD Marbella, who were then playing in the
Segunda División B
Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...
.
Norwich City
Cort returned to England when he signed for Norwich City on 9 December 2008 until the end of the 2008–09 season.
He made his debut for Norwich against
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
at the
Madejski Stadium
The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Reading. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in the EFL Championship. It also provides the finish for the Rea ...
and scored his first goal for the club in a 3–3 draw at Wolves on 3 February 2009.
This was his first league goal since March 2006, when he netted for Wolves in a Championship fixture at
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
. Following Norwich's relegation to
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 ...
Cort left the club after having his contract terminated by mutual consent.
Brentford
After leaving Norwich, Cort went on trial with
Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...
but was not offered a contract.
He later went on to sign for
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
on a five-month deal, which was then extended to the end of the season.
He scored his first goal for Brentford against Swindon Town on 3 October 2009 and added another 5 goals making it 6 goals in 26 appearances. In June 2010, Cort signed a new one-year contract at Brentford, but was later released in January 2011.
AFC Wimbledon
Cort had been training with the
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 ...
reserve/development squad. It was reported that he had scored in an appearance for the reserve team towards the end of October 2011.
Tampa Bay Rowdies
On 10 August 2012,
Tampa Bay Rowdies
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...
announced they had signed Cort.
News , Tampa Bay Rowdies
/ref>
Personal life
He is the elder brother of fellow professional footballer Leon Cort
Leon Terence Anthony Cort (born 11 September 1979) is a former footballer who played as a defender. He is the younger brother of Carl Cort and the older half-brother of Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Cort began his career as at non-league side Dulwich ...
, and the younger brother of non-League footballer Wayne Cort. He is also the half-brother of Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Ruben Ira Loftus-Cheek (born 23 January 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Chelsea.
Early life
Loftus-Cheek was born in Lewisham, Greater London. He grew up in Swanley, Kent and attended High Firs Pr ...
.
As of late 2022, Cort is an Uber driver in Las Vegas.
Career statistics
Club
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cort, Carl
1977 births
Footballers from Southwark
Living people
Association football forwards
Black British sportspeople
English footballers
England under-21 international footballers
England youth international footballers
English expatriate footballers
English people of Guyanese descent
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Guyanese footballers
Guyana international footballers
Wimbledon F.C. players
Lincoln City F.C. players
Newcastle United F.C. players
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
Leicester City F.C. players
Norwich City F.C. players
Brentford F.C. players
Marbella FC players
Tampa Bay Rowdies players
Premier League players
English Football League players
North American Soccer League players
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
People educated at Archbishop Tenison's Church of England School, Lambeth
English expatriate sportspeople in the United States