Bradford City striker Andy Cook made only 22 League Two appearances last season after being sidelined for the rest of the season back in January but here’s why he deserves that promotion more than anyone.
Not many City fans had heard of Andy Cook when he made his loan move from Mansfield Town in January 2021. The signing was touted as ‘uninspiring’ and you can’t blame fans for feeling that way given the clubs incredibly poor recent record of signing journeymen strikers.
However, the fans quickly found out how much Cook loves proving people wrong. City’s current longest serving player has constantly had to prove managers, players and fans wrong to become a surprise addition to the clubs top five all-time goalscorers. Here’s the story of Andy Cook and Bradford City from having to earn a starting place from Danny Rowe, becoming the most wanted striker in the EFL and why his contributions over four and a half years have led City to League One.
The Beginning – Competition With Rowe
January 2021 was a big window for Bradford City. It was current CEO’s first transfer window in charge and with the club flirting with relegation, he was keen to make a big impact.
Incomings of Ollie Crankshaw, Charles Vernam and Danny Rowe all impressed as the club shot up the league table with rookies Mark Trueman and Conor Sellers at the helm.
But one January signing surprised the fan base the most Andy Cook finished the campaign on 8 goals in 21 games and with his contract at Mansfield up in the summer, Sparks was keen to bring him to Valley Parade permanently.
Fans described Cook as everything they expected Danny Rowe to be. Already the comparisons had started and already, Andy Cook had proved people wrong.
His goals helped to earn City League Two football and fought off the embarrassing and potentially catastrophic prospect of National League football.
A Poor Season All Round
The 2021/22 season saw fans welcomed back in to Valley Parade for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Yep, and that’s where the positives from that season end for Bradford City fans.
The introduction of ‘promotion specialist’ Derek Adams gave Bradford fans high hopes. The Scotsman looked a great appointment on paper after having just won promotion with Morecambe on a shoestring budget. Surely he could do the same in West Yorkshire, with more money?
Anyone that thought that was incredibly wrong. Adams was sacked in February 2022 with City languishing in 11th position and held little to no hope of reaching the Play-Offs.
The manager couldn’t get the best out of vocalpoint, Andy Cook and insisted: “If they’re going to get a new manager in they’re not going to get a manager as successful as myself in the door,”.
In my eyes, successful managers get the most out of their best players. So in comes Mark Hughes, who did just that and essentially paved the way to making Andy Cook a Bradford City legend.
The Best Spell Of His Career
Before I go into the stats behind Cook’s infamous incredible return in the 2022/23 season, just remember that the club signed Vadaine Oliver in the summer to lead the line with Andy sitting on the bench.
The signing of Oliver didn’t work out in the way anyone had initially thought. The EFL veteran was signed on a three year deal and didn’t exactly prove his worth with just 3 goals in 44 league appearances over the course of his contract. However, he was the catalyst for Andy Cook’s goal scoring prowess.
Cook knew that he had to prove people wrong, again and that is one determined man who isn’t going to let anyone get in his way.
His 28 league goals and 8 assists more than helped Bradford reach the Play-Offs. Cook was involved in 59% of City’s goals that entire season. That’s the definition of a one man team.
Without his goals, Bradford City would’ve finished 18th. Let that sit with you for a second.
The domino effect of that Play-Off season is the reason why City are promoted now, in my opinion. Hughes will have been sacked a lot earlier and we may not have got Alexander at the right time. Finishing 18th probably won’t have provided us with the pulling power to sign Alex Pattison from Harrogate Town. A player who was so instrumental in helping us finish third this season. We’ve got a lot to thank Andy Cook for but that goes without saying.
It wasn’t as if Cooky relied on constant premium service either, the goal at Gillingham proved that. He jinxed his way past defenders before chipping the keeper with his weaker foot. That was the moment, for me, which proved how much of a special player he is.
Carlisle United knew how important he was to City and the eventual Play-Off winners contained him over the two semi-finals which meant League Two was Bradford’s home for another year.
This presented another big challenge for the club. Andy’s contract was up in the summer and League One clubs were circling the 32-year-old in search of one big last payday.
A Homely Valley Parade
Keeping Andy Cook at City was imperative to any future promotion push and to the pull factor when it came to bringing better players to the club.
However, Ryan Sparks and co had the challenge of beating off stiff opposition for his signature.
The Lower Tiers understands that 16 clubs showed interest in the striker. One of those was Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham and one of those was League One’s Charlton Athletic. Both clubs on the up offering more money. Seems like a no brainer right?
City managed to beat off the competition by giving Cook the 3-year-contract other clubs weren’t prepared to give a at the time 32-year-old.
It was a show of loyalty and respect from the club, returned by the player and increasing his legendary status at the club.
Graham Alexander – A Different Way Of Playing
Mark Hughes was sacked in October after a poor start to the season. This paved the way for Graham Alexander, which was, at the time, an uninspiring appointment. Starting to see a trend here?
Alexander wanted to take some of the responsibility away from Andy Cook and distribute it evenly throughout other members of the squad.
He did this by introducing the 3-5-2 formation where Cook would be the main focal point giving way for the players behind to feed off of him.
Alexander’s first season was nowhere near perfect and Andy Cook’s return (19 goals and 9 assists) wasn’t anywhere near the previous season.
But the way City were playing showed growth and gave the supporters a way of playing they could resonate. Committed and passionate. Bradfordian.
Peak Cook Returns Before Disaster?
The 2024/25 season saw the return of the lean and mean Andy Cook we saw during the 2022/23 season.
He was on his way to another League Two Golden Boot Award after netting 15 league goals by January (Michael Cheek eventually won the award on 25 goals).
The Bantams were being taunted as a one-man-team again and any injury to him would derail our season.
Then the worst happened. The day every City fan had hoped would never happen. Andy Cook tore his ACL and is out for the remainder of the season.
Fans rushed to social media saying things like “That’s the season over”, “Another year in League Two” and “Call the season off now”.
A tough moment for the player, the fans and the club but it gave Graham Alexander a chance to prove his worth, tactically.
In a recent podcast, Antoni Sarcevic discussed how The Bantams coped without Andy Cook: “When it was me, Pointon and Kavanagh. We weren’t going as long. But I think the nervousness of the last few games caused us to go long again”.
I was wrong. If we had Cook fit for those games against Port Vale, Notts County, Doncaster and Chesterfield, I’m certain we’d have been promoted sooner.
However, I wouldn’t change the way we got promoted for anything!
Cooks Promotion
After going through his career at Bradford City, it’s clear to see why Andy Cook deserves this promotion so much. I’m not saying that the other players don’t deserve promotion. Of course they do. But Cook has been here the longest, through the ups and downs and he understands what the club means to the fans.
He said it earlier in the season, “This place is my home. It’s not just the football that’s made it my home, the way the fans have been with us, that’s made me feel like that”.
Without his goals earlier in the season, City wouldn’t have even made the Play-Offs. His contributions more than helped City towards automatic promotion and that moment at around 5pm on Saturday the 3rd of May.
People haven’t learnt though. He’s being written off again. It’s being suggested that a 34-year-old can’t come back from an ACL injury so late in his career.
Remember, this is Andy Cook we’re talking about. He’ll be back and we can’t wait for the next chapter.
