More than 100 people from the world of football and his adopted home area of Sawtry paid tribute to a man who scored goals for fun, then went on to carve a name for himself at the very top echelons of the game.
After he retired, Cooke, who died aged 64 of cancer on August 7, became a much-respected scout for various professional clubs, including Preston North End, Sunderland, Real Sociedad in Spain and was UK and international scout at Burnley and chief scout at Everton, Manchester United and West Ham.
And it was the latter club who provided the stardust with an appearance on Wednesday (September 1) of a delegation, headed by one of Cooke’s best friends in the game, manager David Moyes.
There were numerous former Posh players in attendance, as well as former manager Peter Morris, who managed Cooke at Mansfield, Posh and Kettering, where in 1989 Cooke was top scorer in the FA Cup as the non-league Poppies made it to the fifth round. Also there was Posh director of football, Barry Fry.
Wife Linda produced a moving tribute about their ‘fantastic adventure’ together since they met, aged 16 and son Gavin produced a heartfelt and humorous insight into ‘Cookie’s’ character and exploits, many of them as far away from football as you could go - like stargazing, for example. The final speaker was Cooke’s youngest brother, Paul, who lives in Pittsburgh, USA.
Cooke leaves another son, Adam, and daughter Lyndsey, plus six grandchildren.
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Robbie Cooke funeral at the Crematorium. Former Posh manager Peter Morris with John Drewnicki former Posh director. Photo: Midlands
