Chris Cook: His United Career

Описание: Cook made his first-team debut at Frickley in 1978 after sitting on the bench through two cup games at Barrow and Kettering earlier in the season. Taking Bobby Brown’s place alongside Jim Kabia. The striker's first game finished 1-1 in South Yorkshire. He scored his first Boston goal in a 1-1 draw at title winners Mossley on Easter Monday as the Pilgrims prepared for the newly-formed Alliance Premier League with a sixth-place finish in the Northern Prem.
Cook continued to score at an impressive rate in the reserves’ Lincolnshire League; appearing twice of the bench as Boston ended the first ever Conference season (1979-1980) in fourth place.
Still only 18, Cook again played a few games the following campaign, and ended the year with four starts in five. Goals number two and against Barnet and Lincoln justified the young forward’s involvement.
Cook enjoyed increased involvement in 1981-1982, racking up eight starts and 10 substitute appearances, often replacing Graham Collier either in the XI or during games.
The following season proved pivotal in cementing his place in the Boston side. The 20-year-old was called up for a start at Enfield in mid-October and a fortnight later was back in the side to score against Shifnal Town in the FA Cup. That win set up a round one tie against Fourth Division Crewe Alexandra, a game thought of as Cook’s real breakthrough moment.
A crowd of 3,311 descended on York Street for Boston’s first round one win since 1973 and Cook was the hero. Two goals in five second half minutes sent United into a 3-1 lead after Jim Lumby had cancelled out Mark Palios’ opening goal.
The reward - a home tie with Sheffield United - saw the Match of the Day cameras visit and Cook was the media darling of the day.
Cook played both the 1-1 York Street draw and 5-1 replay defeat. The forward ended 1982-83 on 10 goals, including two further braces against Frickley and away at Yeovil.
Now an established first teamer, Cook held down an almost-permanent place in the team the next season often alongside former Football League duo Bob Lee and Jim Lumby. The local lad scored more than both of them (18) to take the top goalscorer accolade.
The autumn of 1984 was one of contrasting fortunes for Cook. September and October saw him score every other game but by November appearances were hard to come by with Genovese then O’Brien preferred in the 10 shirt alongside number nine Bob Lee.
Two late goals in the 5-4 FA Trophy win over Blyth did Cook no harm and he went on to enjoy regular starts through to the end of the season.
Goals in the FA Trophy quarter (versus Runcorn) and semi-finals (against Altrincham) helped Boston along to their only Wembley appearance to date - Cook famously scoring the Pilgrims’ goal in a 2-1 defeat.
It continued to be a good year for Cook who began the 1985-86 season with 13 goals in 22 games, but his goalscoring efforts slowed up and Dave Gilbert beat him to the club’s top goalscorer award on the final day, just a single effort ahead on 19.
The following season Cook would be the club’s leading marksman - his most profitable campaign in a Boston shirt.
United enjoyed a sixth-place finish in the Conference and Chris found the net 28 times, finishing well clear of his peers with Warren Ward on 17 the closest competition, and fourth on the league charts. Without Cook’s goals the Pilgrims would have been 21 points worse off.
Cook only scored eight in a stop-start 1987-88 season, enough to become the fifth Boston United player to reach a century of goals for the club (alongside Notley, Stone, Kabia and Froggatt) with a goal at Stafford Rangers in May.
The following campaign saw Chris break the 20-goal barrier once again. His first Boston hat-trick took a surprisingly long time to arrive, but after 21 braces Cook finally added a third against Mile Oak Rangers in the FA Cup.
He stretched to a fourth effort that afternoon, finishing top scorer for the third-placed Pilgrims.
A quiet 1989-1990 season saw Cook score four, and the following year proved the final one of his first spell with Boston.
Helping himself to four goals against Lowestoft Town in the FA Cup (adding a second hat-trick to his BUFC record in the process).
Cook scored seven in 12 games at the beginning of the season. But he left United with 139 goals to his name weeks later.
September 1994 saw Boston needing inspiration up front, and Cook was called upon for a fairy tale first team return. Scoring the only goal of the game at Matlock, Cook moved back into the contention and finished the season with 18 appearances and nine goals to his name - three of those in a 5-0 home win against Frickley.
The, in 1995-96 he got himself on the teamsheet every week from mid-September to late-March.
Despite suffering spells of non-inclusion he would add 15 more goals in 66 appearances through to the end of the 1997-1998 campaign.