Justin Vincent Cochrane (born 26 January 1982) 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 le ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born in England, he represented the Antigua and Barbuda national team at international level. He is now Head of Coaching at

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 ...

Club career

Born to an

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

n father and a Saint Lucian mother, in Hackney, at the former Mothers' Hospital, Cochrane grew up in

Edmonton, North London Edmonton is a town in North London, north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and ...

. Cochrane started his career at the London club

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

as a trainee and played for the youth and reserve teams. He made his first-team debut for the club as a second-half substitute in the final home game of the 2000–01 season versus

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

, however he was sent off within minutes of coming on. He was sold to

non-League 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 ...

Hayes in the close season but in July 2003 was signed by

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

on a free transfer. In February 2006, Cochrane was loaned out to Gillingham, in an attempt to get first-team football, and in April 2006 had a trial with

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

where he scored a goal in a reserve match. He was released by Crewe at the end of the 2005–06 season, subsequently signing a two-year deal with

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

. Rotherham released him in June 2007, and after playing for

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

on a non-contract basis, he signed a short-term deal with them on 31 August 2007. He also had a spell at

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 which he made one brief substitute appearance. Cochrane then had a short trial at

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

before joining

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

on 19 December 2008 on non-contract forms, before leaving the following month. On the February 2009, he signed a contract with

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

. Gary Waddock, the Aldershot manager and former QPR youth coach, was familiar with Cochrane through his time at QPR. However, Cochrane was released at the beginning of the 2009–10 season, and went on trial at

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

club Hayes & Yeading United, playing in their pre-season friendly versus Maidenhead United on 25 July, before signing a contract with them. He last played for

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

, for whom he scored his first goal in a

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

match against Eastbourne Borough on 11 December 2010, which ended in a 3–1 defeat for Boreham Wood.

International career

Cochrane played for

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...

in non-

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

regulated friendlies in June 2008, scoring a goal. He made his debut against

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

in a friendly before playing both legs of Antigua's World Cup qualifiers against

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. Cochrane also turned out for Antigua and Barbuda during Second Round of the Caribbean Championships that year.

Coaching career

Cochrane was a youth team coach at

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 ...

football club and, on 29 August 2019, was announced as the new head coach of England U16s having stepped up from the U15s age group. On 24 September 2020, Cochrane was appointed England U17s head coach as well as lead for the Youth Development Phase (U15/U16/U17). Concurrent with his FA role, Cochrane was seconded to

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 ...

as a temporary coach in early 2021. On 8 June 2021, Cochrane was appointed as head of player development and coaching at Manchester United's Academy. In June 2022, he moved on to the role of Head of Coaching at

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Antigua and Barbuda's goal tally first.''

References

External links

*
Player profile
– Rushden & Diamonds *

– FIFA {{DEFAULTSORT:Cochrane, Justin 1982 births Living people English men's footballers Antigua and Barbuda men's footballers Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Hayes F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Antigua Barracuda FC players English Football League players National League (English football) players English sportspeople of Antigua and Barbuda descent Antigua and Barbuda men's international footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney Men's association football defenders USL Championship players Black British sportsmen Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches English people of Saint Lucian descent English football managers Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff Brentford F.C. non-playing staff AFC Wimbledon non-playing staff