Walter Charles Cook (1 July 1894 – 1973) was 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 le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

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

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, ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and

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 ...

. He was on the books of

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement. History The club was ...

before the League resumed after the First World War, and played

non-league football 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 ...

for Castleford Town and

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

Life and career

Walter Charles Cook was born to Joseph and Ellen Cook in

Midsomer Norton Midsomer Norton is a town near the Mendip Hills in Bath and North East Somerset, England, south-west of Bath, north-east of Wells, north-west of Frome, west of Trowbridge and south-east of Bristol. It has a population of around 13,000. ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, on 1 July 1894. He had blue eyes and brown hair. By 1901, the family had moved to

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

, in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, where Joseph was working as a coal miner. The

1911 Census The United Kingdom Census 1911 of 2 April 1911 was the 12th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The total population of the United Kingdom was approximately 45,221,000, with 36,070,000 recorded in England ...

records the 16-year-old Cook employed as a pony driver underground. He enlisted in the Cameronians in 1915, served in France, and was discharged in 1917 as physically unfit for military service. His discharge papers described him as a "sober, honest and diligent soldier, discharged on account of a wound sustained in action." He married Beatrice Haley in March 1918, and gave his occupation as miner. Cook played for

immediately after the First World War, but had left the club for

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

club Castleford Town of the

before the

resumed. Together with Cecil Eastwood and Joe Little, Cook moved on to

in May 1920. A backup to the long-serving Fred Craig, Cook eventually made his Football League debut in December 1921, but played just seven matches before joining another

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

club,

, in 1924 for a £400 fee. He was a first-team regular during his first season with Albion, but was displaced by Stan Webb in his second and left the club. He joined

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

on a month's trial later that year, but did not make a first-team appearance. He played nine matches in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

and two in the

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 ...

for

during the first half of the 1928–29 season, before finishing his career in

with

.Phil Harrison: The Official History of Harrogate Town Football Club. Phil/Car Publishing, Ripon 2010, ISBN 978-0-9549065-1-1. p. 45, 408f The 1939 Register lists Cook living in

, Yorkshire, and working as a motorworks fitter's labourer. He died in Harrogate in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Walter 1894 births 1973 deaths People from Midsomer Norton Sportspeople from Castleford Footballers from West Yorkshire Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers Leeds City F.C. players Castleford Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Midland Football League players English Football League players Cameronians soldiers British Army personnel of World War I