Paul Cook

Paul Anthony Cook (born 22 February 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently manager of side Chesterfield.

Cook played as a central midfielder during a playing career that spanned 23 years from 1983 until 2006, notably playing in the Premier League for Coventry City.

He also played in the Football League for Wigan Athletic, Norwich City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County and Burnley.

Born in Kirkby, Cook began his career in 1983 at local non-league side Marine but made no appearances.

In 1984, Cook was signed by Wigan Athletic, where he featured in 83 league games in a four-year spell.

Cook then had a brief and unsuccessful spell at Norwich City before moving to the Midlands to sign for Wolverhampton Wanderers for £250,000.

He was a very popular player during his time at Wolves, both with the fans and his teammates and became known for his deadly and accurate left foot.

After 193 league appearances for Wolves over five seasons in the second tier, Cook left to sign for Premier League side Coventry City.

Cook played the majority of his games at Coventry in his first season (1994/95) but fell out of favour during the following campaign, where he made only three appearances.

In February 1996, Cook was sold to Tranmere Rovers for £250,000.

Whilst at Tranmere, he became a key member of the side, playing 60 league games in just eighteen months.

In October 1997, Tranmere accepted a bid of £250,000 from Stockport County and regained the fee initially paid for Cook.

After twelve months at County, Cook began to be regarded as 'too old', despite only being 32.

This led to Cook making a loan move to Burnley before making the move permanent in July 1999.

After a falling out with Burnley manager Stan Ternent, Cook went on loan to his former club Wigan Athletic, but made just six appearances before he was re-called to again take his place in the starting line up at Turf Moor.

Cook left Burnley at the end of the 2002/03 season, alongside teammate Andy Payton.

The two players received a standing ovation from the fans for their contributions to the club.

Cook signed for non-league side Accrington Stanley and went on to become a first team regular in their push for promotion to the Football League.

This target was finally achieved in the 2005/06 season when Stanley were crowned as Champions of the Conference.

After achieving this aim, Cook retired after 643 league appearances for nine different clubs.

After the end of the 2005/06 season, Cook was granted a testimonial by Accrington as a sign of appreciation for his efforts.

Cook moved into management in 2006 with Southport and later moved on to Irish side Sligo Rovers in 2007.

The testimonial was played on 2 May 2006 at the Interlink Express (now the Wham) Stadium; Accrington against a Burnley Select XI featuring old teammates Dean West, Lenny Johnrose, Ian Cox, Kevin Ball and Cook's son Liam.

Cook was appointed manager of Conference side Southport on 13 June 2006, a post he was sacked from in January 2007 following defeat at Northwich Victoria.

On 27 April 2007, Cook was appointed manager of Sligo Rovers taking over from Rob McDonald, who resigned before the start of the season.

During Cook's unveiling, he stated that he was from Liverpool and that he will not have anything to do with any journalist from the Irish Sun, (due to the articles printed about Liverpool supporters during the Hillsborough disaster).

He led Rovers to a 6th place league finish in his first season in charge.

Cook's second season saw him guide the bit o' red to fourth in the league and thus secure a UEFA Cup place.

Cook departed in January 2009 by mutual consent, but soon returned to Sligo a few weeks later after his initial departure.

In February 2012, he returned to English management with Accrington Stanley before moving to Chesterfield in October 2012.

Cook guided Chesterfield to the League Two title in the 2013/14 season.

In May 2015, he was appointed manager of League Two outfit Portsmouth after a release clause was met in his Chesterfield contract.

Cook led Portsmouth to the League Two title in the 2016/17 season.

In May 2017, he was appointed manager of League One club Wigan Athletic.

Cook led Wigan to the League One title and promotion into the Championship.

After the club fell into administration, Wigan were relegated from the Championship in the 2019/20 season following a 12-point deduction.

Cook resigned as Wigan manager in July 2020.

Following his departure from Wigan Athletic, Cook remained unemployed until March 2021 where he was appointed as the manager of Ipswich Town on a contract until 2023.

However, Cook was relieved of his duties at Ipswich in early December 2021.

Cook returned to Chesterfield as manager in February 2022.