George Terence Cochrane (born 23 January 1953) is a Northern Irish former footballer who played in midfield as a winger. Cochrane started out as a youngster with

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

and had been rejected after a months trial with Everton, then managed by Billy Bingham, for "not having the right build" to play in midfield. Cochrane returned to the Irish League to play for Linfield, and then Coleraine, thinking his dream of playing English football was over. At Coleraine, under the tutelage of former

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

boss, Bertie Peacock, Cochrane developed into a fine winger and was capped by his country for the first time in October 1975 against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. In October 1976 Cochrane moved to

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 ...

, then playing in

Division Two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO , ...

. With Burnley he became a much sought-after player - his scintillating displays aiding Burnley in their survival from relegation. Middlesbrough later paid a club record fee of £233,333 for him in October 1978. This was also a record fee for a Northern Ireland player and his debut came in a 2–0 home win over Norwich City on 14 October. After five years at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...

and a brief spell playing in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

with Eastern AA, Cochrane moved to Gillingham in October 1983. He was named as the Kent side's Player of the Season for 1984–85. Never really established in the international team, indeed 13 of his 26 caps came as a sub, he is remembered for his goal against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

during the

1980 British Home Championship __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

. The goal came nine minutes after he had come on as a sub, and just sixty seconds after the English had scored, to earn Northern Ireland a crucial 1–1 draw as they went on to win the Championships for the first time in 66 years. A hamstring injury picked up in a warm-up match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

ruled Cochrane out of the 1982 World Cup squad after playing in all but two of the qualifiers. He was capped just twice more after that World Cup series, acting as Martin O'Neill's deputy in a British Championship game against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

in December 1983, as Northern Ireland won the trophy; and as substitute for Gerry Armstrong in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

in May 1984. He failed to make the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

squad before short spells with

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, ea ...

(November 1986) and Hartlepool United (January 1987). Later Cochrane moved into non-league football with

Billingham Synthonia Billingham Synthonia Football Club is a football club based in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, England. Nicknamed the "Synners", they are currently members of the and play at the Stokesley Sports Complex in Stokesley, North Yorkshire. History T ...

, coached the Saudi Arabian Military team, and had a spell as player-manager of the ill-fated South Bank. Cochrane lived in the Middlesbrough area for a number of years, working as a media pundit and youth coach. In January 2008 he was appointed manager at

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

who play in the Irish Premier League, though he left the club by mutual consent the following June.BBC
"Cochrane loses Glenavon position"
11 June 2008. Retrieved on 6 May 2013. In August 2009 he took over as coach of Hartlepool Ladies Football Club. In 2014 Cochrane released an autobiography, ''See You At The Far Post''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochrane, Terry 1953 births Living people Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland international footballers Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Hong Kong Derry City F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Eastern Sports Club footballers Gillingham F.C. players Dallas Sidekicks (original MISL) players Millwall F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Billingham Synthonia F.C. players Marske United F.C. players Billingham Town F.C. players South Bank F.C. players Ferryhill Athletic F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong Association football wingers Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in the United States