Here, one of our Board Members pays tribute to his favourite of those 8; Andy Cook. (Please let us know if you feel the urge to write a similar piece for Messrs Hatton, Kerr, Colbeck, McDonald etc..., and we will run it for ya!)
Andy Cook’s rollercoaster career at Grimsby Town came to an end last week as the player was released at the end of his two year contract. From the highs of putting Town into the lead at Wembley last year, to the lows of being out of the team for most of this, ‘Cooky’ has gone from being first choice to last within the space of a few months. We’ll perhaps never find out why, but the big striker is likely to come back and haunt us next season for sure.
It took the former Barrow striker a little while to find his feet at Blundell Park. Signed to compete for a starting place alongside Liam Hearn and Anthony Elding, Cook struggled once Hearn got injured and his partnership with Elding just never got going. But once Elding was ditched, Cook thrived as the club’s number one striker.
For me, Cooky won the fans over on Boxing Day 2012 when he bullied Lincoln City’s defence as Town romped to a 4-1 victory. He grabbed his goal and was a complete menace all game. As he was substituted late in the game, the Town following sang his name and you could see Rob Scott point it out. It helped no end with his confidence and Cook scored some cracking goals, his strike at home to Dartford in the FA Trophy Semi-Final to make it 3-0 stands out, as does his tap in at Wembley to send the Mariners fans crazy.
Then, for whatever reason, Cook found himself out of favour at the start of the 13/14 season and Lennell John-Lewis, having found himself with the shirt, refused to let it go. I think it’s fair to say that Andy Cook is a confidence player and once he gets himself on a run, he played better and better. For various reasons, that never happened last season. Cook made 40 appearances in the end, but only 15 were from the start. His 25 sub appearances were more than any other player and he saw the likes of Connor Jennings and Tounkara come in on loan and jump the queue, despite the fact neither scored prolifically.
His best appearance came in the FA Cup against Huddersfield when he acted as a battering ram and led the line perfectly. Despite this, as soon as ‘The Shop’ his suspension, Cook was out of the side. Given his sparse time on the pitch, it was no surprise he ended up on Paul Hurst’s released list.
(His best off-field appearance? Surely this - the first GTFC player to win the a Mariners Trust FIFA tournament! http://marinerstrustblog.weebly.com/1/post/2013/11/the-first-ever-mariners-trust-fifa-night.html) )
Andy Cook will not be short of offers and will be lining up against Town in the Conference next season I’m sure. A side like Lincoln could do with someone who can mix skill and effort, and whichever team sticks with him and gives him a chance will reap the benefits. Thanks for the memories Cooky.