Paul Anthony Cook (born 22 February 1967) is an English professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

who is currently manager of side

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. Cook played as a

central 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 ...

during a playing career that spanned 23 years from 1983 until 2006, notably playing 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 ...

for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

. He also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

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 ...

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 ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional 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 were renamed Stockport Co ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. Cook moved into management in 2006 with

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

and later moved on to Irish side

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

in 2007. In February 2012, he returned to English management with Accrington Stanley before moving to

in October 2012. Cook guided Chesterfield to the League Two title in the 2013/14 season. In May 2015, he was appointed manager of League Two outfit

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

after a

release clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...

was met in his Chesterfield contract. Cook led Portsmouth to the League Two title in the 2016/17 season. In May 2017, he was appointed manager of League One club Wigan Athletic. Cook led Wigan to the League One title and promotion into the Championship. After the club fell into administration, Wigan were subsequently relegated from the Championship in the 2019/20 season following a 12-point deduction. Cook subsequently resigned as Wigan manager in July 2020. Following his departure from Wigan Athletic, Cook remained unemployed until March 2021 where he was appointed as the manager of

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on a contract until 2023. However, Cook was relieved of his duties at Ipswich in early December 2021. Cook returned to Chesterfield as manager in February 2022.

Playing career

Born in Kirkby, Cook began his career in 1983 at local non-league side

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

but made no appearances. In 1984, Cook was signed by

, where he featured in 83 league games in a four-year spell. Cook then had a brief and unsuccessful spell at

before moving to the Midlands to sign for

for £250,000. He was a very popular player during his time at Wolves, both with the fans and his teammates and became known for his deadly and accurate left foot. After 193 league appearances for Wolves over five seasons in the second tier, Cook left to sign for

side

. Cook played the majority of his games at Coventry in his first season ( 1994/95) but fell out of favour during the following campaign, where he made only three appearances. In February 1996, Cook was sold to

for £250,000. Whilst at Tranmere, he became a key member of the side, playing 60 league games in just eighteen months. In October 1997, Tranmere accepted a bid of £250,000 from

and regained the fee initially paid for Cook. After twelve months at County, Cook began to be regarded as 'too old', despite only being 32. This led to Cook making a loan move to Burnley before making the move permanent in July 1999. After a falling out with Burnley manager Stan Ternent, Cook went on loan to his former club Wigan Athletic, but made just six appearances before he was re-called to again take his place in the starting line up at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...

. Cook left Burnley at the end of the 2002/03 season, alongside teammate Andy Payton. The two players received a standing ovation from the fans for their contributions to the club. Cook signed for non-league side

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

and went on to become a first team regular in their push for promotion to the Football League. This target was finally achieved in the 2005/06 season when Stanley were crowned as Champions of the Conference. After achieving this aim, Cook retired after 643 league appearances for nine different clubs. After the end of the 2005/06 season, Cook was granted a testimonial by Accrington as a sign of appreciation for his efforts. The testimonial was played on 2 May 2006 at the Interlink Express (now the Wham) Stadium;

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

against a Burnley Select XI featuring old teammates

Dean West Dean West (born 5 December 1972) is an English former professional footballer. He is now a coach for Lincoln City youth team and centre of excellence. He is best known as a right sided full-back, but can also play in midfield if needed. Through ...

Lenny Johnrose Leonard Johnrose (29 November 1969 – 15 August 2022) was an English professional footballer who played for clubs including Burnley, Bury and Swansea City. He was a defensive midfielder. Career Johnrose began his career at Blackburn Rovers ...

Ian Cox Ian Gary Cox CM (born 25 March 1971) is a Trinidad and Tobago former professional footballer. Cox was most recently joint manager at Whitstable Town, a post he took up in November 2015. He was part of the Trinidad and Tobago national team' ...

Kevin Ball Kevin Ball (born 12 November 1964) is an English former professional footballer who played for Portsmouth, Sunderland, Fulham and Burnley. Since his retirement, he has held a number of positions at Sunderland, including twice being caretaker m ...

and Cook's son Liam.

Management career

Southport

Cook was appointed manager of Conference side

on 13 June 2006, a post he was sacked from in January 2007 following defeat at Northwich Victoria.

Sligo Rovers

On 27 April 2007, Cook was appointed manager of

taking over from Rob McDonald, who resigned before the start of the season. During Cook's unveiling, he stated that he was from Liverpool and that he will not have anything to do with any journalist from the ''Irish Sun'', (due to the articles printed about Liverpool supporters during the Hillsborough disaster). He led Rovers to a 6th place league finish in his first season in charge. Cook's second season saw him guide the bit o' red to fourth in the league and thus secure a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

place. Cook departed in January 2009 by mutual consent, but soon returned to Sligo a few weeks later after his initial departure. In his third season, under severe financial constraints, Cook managed a sixth place finish in the league. In addition, Cook guided Rovers to the final of the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

which took place on 22 November 2009. Cook's Sligo Rovers side lost 2–1 to Sporting Fingal, despite holding a one-goal lead with seven minutes remaining, a huge disappointment for Cook, Rovers and the people of Sligo. Cook would soon redeem himself from the cup shortcomings of 2009, with his first piece of silverware as Sligo Rovers manager coming in September 2010, after a 1–0 win over

Monaghan United Monaghan United F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Mhuineacháin Aontaithe) is an Irish association football club based in Monaghan currently playing in the Ulster Senior League. The club joined the League of Ireland in 1983 and subsequently went on to pl ...

in the final of the

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 ...

. In November 2010, he brought the

back to the north-west, after beating Shams (

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

) on penalties, with Rovers goalkeeper Ciaran Kelly saving all 4 penalties. The

2010 FAI Cup Final The 2010 FAI Cup Final was the final match of the 2010 FAI Cup competition and was contested by Sligo Rovers and Shamrock Rovers at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 14 November 2010. Shamrock Rovers were looking to complete the double of League ...

was the first major trophy by Cook for Sligo Rovers. The 2010 League of Ireland season also saw Cook guide Rovers to a 3rd place league finish, securing

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

action for the 2011 season. In November 2011, Cook won a successive FAI Cup following a 4–1 penalty shootout win against Shelbourne. Cook also guided Sligo to 2nd place in the League of Ireland in his final season in charge.

Accrington Stanley

Following his success in Ireland, Cook was appointed manager of

on 13 February 2012. He led the team to finish 14th in League Two at the end of the 2011/12 season and continued to manage the side for the opening months of the following campaign.

Chesterfield

On 25 October 2012, Cook joined League Two rivals

on a two-and-a-half-year contract, taking over from Tommy Wright, who had been in charge of the Derbyshire club on a caretaker basis following the departure of John Sheridan. The end of his first season saw Cook guide Chesterfield to eighth position finishing just two points outside the play-off zone. The following season saw Cook guide Chesterfield to the 2013/14 League Two title. The following campaign saw Chesterfield finish 6th in League One and the play-offs before losing to eventual play-off winners Preston North End.

Portsmouth

On 12 May 2015, Cook was appointed manager of League Two club

after Portsmouth met Cook's release clause in his contract at Chesterfield. Cook guided Portsmouth to the

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

title in the 2016/17 season.

Wigan Athletic

On 31 May 2017, Cook was appointed manager of newly relegated League One club

on a three-year contract, after a compensation package was agreed with Portsmouth. He led Wigan to the

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 ...

title and on an impressive

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

run that claimed three shocks against top flight opponents

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

and

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

. Cook resigned as Wigan manager on 29 July 2020, following the club's relegation from the Championship due to a 12-point deduction after the Latics entered administration.

Ipswich Town

On 2 March 2021, Cook was appointed manager of

on a contract until 2023. Cook's first match in charge was a 3–1 defeat away at Gillingham. His first victory as Ipswich manager came in his third game in charge, a 1–0 home win over

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. On 7 April 2021, Ipswich Town was taken over by US investment group Gamechanger 20 Limited, with the club confirming that Cook would remain as manager under the new ownership. Ipswich finished 9th in League One at the end of the 2020/21 season. Ahead of the 2021/22 season, Cook oversaw a major turnover in both the playing squad and coaching staff, backed by the club's new US owners. Over a dozen first team players from the previous season departed with 19 new players joining. The players that departed included longtime club captain

Luke Chambers Luke Chambers (born 28 September 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Primarily a centre back, he could also play at right back. Chambers made 792 appearances in the English Football League, placing him ...

, first team regulars such as

Flynn Downes Flynn Downes (born 20 January 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club West Ham United. A product of Ipswich Town's academy, which he joined in 2006, Downes made his debut for the club in 20 ...

Andre Dozzell Andre Leon Dozzell (born 2 May 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Queens Park Rangers. Dozzell graduated from the academy at his hometown club Ipswich Town, scoring on his senior debut in 2016. He has won ...

, Gwion Edwards, Alan Judge,

Emyr Huws Emyr Wyn Huws (born 30 September 1993) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Wales national team. He came through the youth systems of Swansea City and Manchester City before turning professional with the latte ...

and

Teddy Bishop Edward James Bishop (born 15 July 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for league one club Lincoln City. Club career Ipswich Town Bishop was born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. He originally played for boyhood ...

, and 2020/21 player of the season

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

. Despite these changes and many tipping the club for promotion, Ipswich made a poor start to the season, taking only two wins in their opening 10 matches. On 4 December 2021, with the team sat in 11th and 7 points adrift of the playoffs, Cook was sacked by the club. Having been in charge for just over 9 months, Cook is the second shortest serving manager in the club's history. Cook argued that he deserved more time in an interview a month after his dismissal, stating "If the new ownership had sat down and said to me at the start that if we didn't have instant success then wouldbe gone, then I wouldn't have stayed. That's my only regret."

Return to Chesterfield

On 10 February 2022, Cook was appointed manager of

, returning to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club seven years after leaving. An impressive start to the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

saw Chesterfield sitting top of the league at the end of the first month, Cook being awarded the National League Manager of the Month award for his efforts.

Media career

Cook has appeared on RTÉ coverage of League of Ireland matches.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Source:

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Burnley *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

runner-up: 1999/2000 Accrington Stanley *

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 ...

: 2005/06 Individual *

Player of the Year: 1992/93

Manager

Sligo Rovers *

runner-up: 2009 *

: 2010, 2011 *

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Chesterfield *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

: 2013/14 *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

runner-up: 2013/14 Portsmouth *

: 2016/17 Wigan Athletic *

EFL 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 ...

: 2017/18 Individual *

EFL League Two Manager of the Month The EFL League Two Manager of the Month is a monthly association football award to recognise the outstanding team manager in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the League's sponsor ...

: August 2013, April 2017 * LMA League Two Manager of the Year: 2017 *

EFL League One Manager of the Month The Manager of the Month is an association football award that recognises the manager adjudged best for each month of the season in the Football League One, the third tier of English football. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the Le ...

: October 2017, March 2018, April 2018 *

Manager of the Month: August 2022

References

External links

Paul Cook profile
at the Ipswich Town F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Paul 1967 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English footballers Association football midfielders Marine F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players National League (English football) players English football managers Southport F.C. managers Sligo Rovers F.C. managers Accrington Stanley F.C. managers Chesterfield F.C. managers Portsmouth F.C. managers Wigan Athletic F.C. managers Ipswich Town F.C. managers National League (English football) managers League of Ireland managers English Football League managers