Les Cocker (footballer, born 1924)

Cocker began his professional career with Stockport County in 1946, scoring 43 goals in 173 League games between then and 1953.[4] Cocker then played with Accrington Stanley, scoring 48 goals in 122 League games between 1953 and 1958.[5] In his professional playing career, Cocker scored a total of 91 goals in 295 League games.[2]

After retiring as a player in 1958, Cocker became a Coach at Luton Town.[2] In 1960 Cocker moved to Leeds United,[3] as one of the country's first FA Coaching Certificate holders.[3] In 1962, Cocker was called up by England national team manager Walter Winterbottom to become a squad trainer,[3] combining his national duties with those of his club.[6] Cocker left Leeds in 1974 to become full-time Assistant Manager to Don Revie with the English national team.[3] When Revie left in 1977 to become manager of the United Arab Emirates national team, Cocker followed as his assistant.[3] Cocker returned to England in 1979 to become a coach at Doncaster Rovers under former Leeds legend Billy Bremner, but he died in October of that year aged 55.[3]

Cocker was also a Team Trainer with the victorious England squad at the 1966 World Cup.[3][6] Despite the England team winning the competition, Cocker was not awarded a medal, and a posthumous campaign for Cocker to be awarded one was launched by his family in February 2008.[3][6] The campaign attracted support from former Leeds players including Eddie Gray, Peter Lorimer and Johnny Giles, as well as British politicians including Gerry Sutcliffe and Richard Caborn.[3][6] Cocker was eventually awarded a medal in June 2009, which was collected on his behalf by his family.[7]