Sam Benjamin Cosgrove (born 2 December 1996) is an English 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 plays as a striker for club Barnsley. He began his career with

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, ...

, and had loan spells in non-league football with Barrow, Chorley, Nantwich Town and

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

before making his Football League debut with Carlisle United. A successful three seasons with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

preceded a return to English football with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

in 2021. After loans at

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

, AFC Wimbledon and Plymouth Argyle, he signed for Barnsley in 2023.

Career

Early life and career

Cosgrove was born in 1996 in

Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known fo ...

, in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

. His family moved to Cheshire while he was still a baby, and he attended Knutsford High School. He grew up as a Manchester City fan. Cosgrove began his youth football career as an under-10 with Everton, but was released at 16. He signed scholarship forms with

in 2013, and took his A levels during that time rather than the standard sports-related BTEC course. Cosgrove's first matchday involvement with the senior team came while he was still a second-year scholar, as part of his development process, when manager

Malky Mackay Malcolm George Mackay (born 19 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Ross County. Mackay, who played as a defender, began his playing career in Scottish football with Quee ...

named him as a substitute for the FA Cup third round visit to Bolton Wanderers on 3 January 2015. He remained part of the squad for four league matches during January, each time as an unused substitute. Having scored 44 goals from 40 matches over two years with Wigan's Under-18 team, he was one of six scholars to be offered their first professional contracts. In the 2015–16 season, Cosgrove gained experience from three spells on loan in non-league football. He made his senior debut for

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 ...

club Barrow on 18 August 2015, as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw with

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...

. Starting in place of the injured Andy Cook, he "produced a solid display" in the next game, a defeat to

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

, but after Cook's return he played only a few minutes' football and was recalled by Wigan. He joined Chorley on 25 November until the following 2 January, and played only 20 minutes in the

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

. but after his winning goal in a Lancashire Challenge Trophy match, Chorley manager Matt Jansen said that Cosgrove had "pace to burn, he's big and strong and if he believes in himself he could do very well." His third loan was at

Nantwich Town Nantwich Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1884 and is nicknamed ''The Dabbers'', a reference to the town's tanning industry. They currently compete in and pla ...

of the

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

. A debut goal was disallowed for offside, but he did score Nantwich's 100th goal of the season a few weeks later. Cosgrove signed a one-year contract with Wigan in June 2016, and made his debut as a late substitute in the EFL Cup against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

in August. He spent the second half of the on loan at

, made 14 National League appearances (3 starts) without scoring, and was released by Wigan when his contract expired.

Carlisle United

After a trial in pre-season, Cosgrove signed for

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 ...

club Carlisle United on 1 August 2017 on a short–term deal until January. Against Fleetwood Town in the first round of the EFL Cup on 8 August, he came on as a 90th-minute substitute and helped the team win 2–1

after extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. Four days later, he made his Football League debut, again as a substitute, in a 2–1 win against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

. Cosgrove found his first-team opportunities limited: he was a regular on the bench but rarely left it. He made an unexpected first start on New Year's Day in a loss to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

, he was

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in a goalless draw with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

in the FA Cup, his contract was extended to the end of the season, and on 13 January he scored his first goal to secure a 1–0 win against

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 ...

. He played twice more before the club accepted a bid for his services.

Aberdeen

On 31 January 2018, Cosgrove signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with

club

for an undisclosed fee, variously reported as £25,000, £30,000, or £40,000. The player had signed a pre-contract agreement with Aberdeen to join at the end of the season, but the Carlisle club "reluctantly" decided it would be better not to wait. Eight minutes into his debut, a 2–0 defeat against Celtic on 25 February, he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for a "reckless challenge" on opposing captain Scott Brown. After playing just 11 minutes in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Anthony O'Connor in a 2–0 win against Hearts, and helped them beat Celtic in the last match of the season to finish as runners-up. Aberdeen legend

Willie Miller William Ferguson Miller MBE (born 2 May 1955) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, who made a club record 560 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in th ...

wrote that Cosgrove was well placed to fill the striker vacancy caused by Adam Rooney's departure, and might have the mentality to seize the opportunity, but his impression was that manager

Derek McInnes Derek John McInnes (born 5 July 1971) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock. He featured prominently for Greenock Morton, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion and Dund ...

felt he "still ada lot of developing to do". McInnes spoke of the importance to the team of his "size, his strength, his willingness to occupy defenders" after Cosgrove scored an "emphatic header" against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in pre-season. In the Europa League qualifier against

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, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, he won a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

, converted by Gary Mackay-Steven to open the scoring in a 1–1 draw; although they lost the second leg after extra time, he took confidence from performing well against top-class defenders. Alternating between starter and substitute, he finally scored for the club on his 17th appearance, with two goals in a 4–1 win against St Mirren on 6 October. Cosgrove started the Scottish League Cup Final, which Aberdeen lost 1–0 to Celtic on 2 December. In the next match, in which Aberdeen beat Rangers at Ibrox, he was sent off for a second bookable offence which pundits felt was not a foul. After serving a one-match ban, he scored and assisted in a 3–2 win against Livingston; a booking for

simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the s ...

was rescinded. Six more goals in December earned him the Scottish Premiership Player of the Month award. He signed a contract extension to 2022, scored three more goals in January and five in February, but then his scoring form dipped. He reached his target of 20 on 6 April, but it was the last day of the season before the 21st arrived. His 17 Premiership goals placed him second only to Rangers' Alfredo Morelos (18) as top scorer. Strike partner Stevie May saw the team's improved creativity as a factor in Cosgrove's greater effectiveness, while McInnes highlighted how a focus on "movement, anticipation and speed of thought" helped him react more like a smaller striker than a pure target man. He became increasingly "capable of impacting games from a deeper position" using his pace. Six goals in four Europa League qualifiers, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against Chikhura Sachkhere, proved McInnes' point that Aberdeen had been right to persevere with Cosgrove despite media criticism. He continued with two goals in a 3–2 league win against Hearts, an extra-time winner in 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 ...

, and 11 goals from his next 18 matches, in the last of which he was controversially sent off for a forceful tackle. He set himself a 30-goal target, last achieved for Aberdeen by Joe Harper in 1978–79, but a seven-match goal drought and a back injury left him on 23 and the team in fourth place when the season was curtailed because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Despite reports of interest from clubs in England and further afield during the past season, Aberdeen confirmed that there had been no offers. In July 2020, the club accepted a bid in excess of £2 million from French club

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 6,895 as of 2017, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Gui ...

for Cosgrove, who rejected the move. He then damaged a knee and was out for three months, during which time he was one of eight Aberdeen players who were heavily fined by the club and received a suspended three-match ban from the Scottish Football Association after breaching COVID protocols by visiting a bar as a group. He returned to action on 25 October, set up a goal for

Ryan Hedges Ryan Peter Hedges (born 8 July 1995) is a professional footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers and the Wales national football team. He made his professional debut for Leyton Orient in January 2015, on loan from Swansea City. After further l ...

in a 3–3 draw with Celtic, and scored two weeks later, but his lack of match fitness was telling. He was not starting regularly, and fellow striker Curtis Main was out of form; by the end of January, they had three goals apiece. Financial Fair Play restrictions reportedly put Cosgrove out of

's reach, but a £2 million bid from

was accepted.

Birmingham City

Cosgrove signed a three-and-a-half year contract with Championship club

on 31 January 2021. The fee was officially undisclosed. The ''

News and Star The ''News and Star'' (formerly the ''Evening News and Star'' and ''Cumberland Evening News'') is a local tabloid newspaper in Cumbria. As of 18 October 2018, it belongs to Newsquest who produce several regional newspapers throughout the UK. ...

'' reported that Carlisle United would benefit from a sell-on clause, possibly to the extent of 20% of Aberdeen's profit on the deal. He made his debut on 6 February as a very late substitute in a 3–2 defeat away to AFC Bournemouth, but although the team were in need of goals and head coach

Aitor Karanka Aitor Karanka de la Hoz (Basque and ; born 18 September 1973) is a Spanish football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of Segunda División club Granada. Save for a brief spell in the United States at age 32, Karanka ...

stated that if the January signings "don't start n 13 Februarythey will do it soon", his three appearances before Karanka was sacked a month later were all from the bench. Incoming head coach

Lee Bowyer Lee David Bowyer (; born 3 January 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who featured for Charlton Athletic, Leeds United, West Ham United (two spells), Newcastle United, Birming ...

, tasked with achieving Championship survival, selected Scott Hogan and Lukas Jutkiewicz as his strike pairing of choice. He saw Cosgrove as a potential like-for-like replacement for Jutkiewicz, but without the latter's physicality and consistency of performance, and it was only when relegation was avoided with two matches still to play that Cosgrove made his first start as one of the many squad players whom Bowyer wanted to assess.

Loans to Shrewsbury Town and AFC Wimbledon

He joined League One club

on 11 August 2021 on loan for the season, and made his debut three days later away to Morecambe, replacing Nathanael Ogbeta at half-time with his side 2–0 down. Although his side were, according to the ''

Shropshire Star The ''Shropshire Star'' is reputedly the twelfth biggest-selling regional newspaper in the UK. It is based at Grosvenor House, Telford where it covers the whole of Shropshire plus parts of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Cheshire ...

'', "much sharper after the break", the score remained unchanged. Cosgrove was recalled from Shrewsbury and signed for another League One team, AFC Wimbledon, on 31 January 2022 on loan for the rest of the season. Not registered in time for the next day's match, he started and played 67 minutes in a 3–2 defeat away to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

on 5 February.

Loan to Plymouth Argyle

He made three first-team appearances for Birmingham in August 2022, before returning to League One when he joined Plymouth Argyle on 1 September on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his debut two days later, coming on after 75 minutes of Argyle's visit to

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 188 ...

with his side 2–1 down. With his first touch of the ball, he turned Niall Ennis's cross-shot into the net, and on 90 minutes, he broke at pace and beat the goalkeeper with a low shot to secure a 3–2 win. On 21 December, Cosgrove scored a second-half hat-trick against AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Trophy. Argyle trailed 3–0 at half-time, but Cosgrove's goals against his former club took the tie to penalties, which Plymouth won 4–3 to book their place in the quarter-finals. Cosgrove ended his spell at Plymouth with a

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 ...

winners' medal. He scored twelve goals in all competitions for the club.

Barnsley

Cosgrove played twice for Birmingham in the 2023–24 EFL Cup and was a regular on the bench in Championship matches, before he was released on 1 September to enable him to join League One club Barnsley on a two-year contract.

Career statistics

Honours

Plymouth Argyle * EFL League One: 2022–23 * EFL Trophy runner-up: 2022–23

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosgrove, Sam 1996 births Living people Footballers from Beverley English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Wigan Athletic F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Nantwich Town F.C. players North Ferriby United A.F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players