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There was euphoria from all associated with Bradford City last month when the League One leaders were handed a Carabao Cup third-round tie at the holders, Newcastle United. But there was one man in particular whose self-professed screaming could have likely been heard all across the north-east.
Not since their days as a Premier League club have Bradford made the trip up the A1 and when they last faced Newcastle, in December 2000, Andy Cook was a 10-year-old Newcastle fanatic who had grown up idolising Alan Shearer. On Wednesday, at the age of 34, Cook will at last fulfil a childhood dream of playing at St James’ Park, one he thought had passed him by.
“I screamed the house down when that draw came out,” Cook says with a smile. “My missus was downstairs watching the draw and I was upstairs, and I think my TV must have been ahead of hers because she heard me screaming and sprinted upstairs to see if I was OK. When we both saw it was Newcastle away, we couldn’t believe it.”
Cook’s journey to this point has not been linear. In and out of Middlesbrough’s scholarship systems, he was let go at 16 before signing at Carlisle. He never made a first-team appearance there and ultimately spent the first decade of his career in non-league, with teams such as Workington and Barrow. “Growing up locally, this was your dream,” Cook says of wanting to be a footballer.
“You always wanted to play at St James’ at some point. Did I think I’d get the chance with the way my career has gone? Probably not. You never think that when you’re playing as low down as I was. So to get the chance to do it, it genuinely is a dream come true.”
Cook did not make his Football League debut until the age of 27 but is now Bradford’s fourth-highest goalscorer of all time and a modern‑day legend at Valley Parade. Just as he grew up dreaming of emulating Shearer, there are now young supporters wanting to be the next Cook, something that is not lost on him. “You see all the young kids with your name on the shirt and sometimes I have to pinch myself and believe this is real,” he says.
“It’s a bit weird because I’m just a normal lad from the north-east. When I go back home I’m just plain old me, but here it’s really different. To play for Bradford City is an honour.”
That is, in part, perhaps because there was a very real prospect of Cook’s career suddenly being taken away from him. On New Year’s Day he sustained a horrific anterior cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out of Bradford’s promotion‑winning campaign and put him on the sidelines for nine months. He returned this month, scoring twice in an EFL Trophy win against Grimsby Town. Cook’s goal now? To cap off the worst year of his career with a fairytale appearance at the stadium where he often sits as a supporter.
“I cried when I got the news it was my ACL,” he says. I’ve never had an injury like it in my career but it made me stronger. I know he’s a different animal, but Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] did his ACL at 38 and came back. My first thought was: ‘I’m 34, so I can do it?’ I’ve been to hell and back with it but this draw just feels like the end of that chapter and why it was right to never give up on anything.”
That injury and the subsequent operation meant Cook had to forfeit his tickets to watch Newcastle win the Carabao Cup at Wembley in March, though he was present for their defeat by Manchester United in the 2023 final. All that pain and heartache will ebb away on Wednesday, however, if he is fortunate enough to get on the pitch.
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Graham Alexander’s side head to St James’ Park in buoyant mood, too; top of the third tier for the first time in more than 20 years after promotion last season and with 5,000 travelling supporters cheering them on. The Bantams have had their fair share of cup upsets in recent history, too, making the final of this competition as a League Two club in 2013.
These are special times for the Yorkshire club and, just like Cook’s memories of the great Newcastle teams of the 1990s revolved around their talismanic No 9, he is now at the heart of their success after overcoming adversity. But the big question is, if he is fortunate enough to score on Wednesday and potentially end his beloved club’s defence of the Carabao Cup, will he celebrate? “Oh aye,” he says.
“I was having a laugh with my mates and I said if I was ever lucky enough to be on that pitch, I would come straight to the corner where our seats usually are and give it some.” Will he try to catch Shearer’s eye regardless? “Nah, his box is too high up!”
