Ken Coote
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kenneth Alexander Coote[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 19 May 1928 | ||
| Place of birth | Paddington,England | ||
| Date of death | 2 August 2003(aged 75)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Isleworth,England[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Full back,Utility player | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Alperton Old Boys | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1949 | Wembley | ||
| 1949–1964 | Brentford | 514 | (14) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Kenneth Alexander Coote(19 May 1928 – 2 August 2003) was an Englishfootballer.He is best remembered for his 14 years as afull backandutility playerwithBrentford,for whom he tops the all-time appearances list with 559 and was alsocaptainof the club. In 2013, Coote placed second in aFootball League125th Anniversary poll of Brentford's best ever captains and he is a member of the club'sHall of Fame.
Club career
[edit]Early years
[edit]Coote began his career as a youth at Alperton Old Boys, a team managed by the father of futureEnglandmanagerRon Greenwood.[2]He moved on to join Middlesex Senior League clubWembleyas an amateur and impressed enough to spend two weeks on trial atFirst DivisionclubBurnleyin the spring of 1949.[2]
Brentford
[edit]Ron Greenwood, then playing forSecond DivisionclubBrentford,knew of Coote and recommended to managerJackie Gibbonsthat Brentford sign him.[2]Coote joined the Bees as an amateur on 26 March 1949 and signed a professional contract on 9 May 1949.[3]He made his debut for the club in a 4–1 defeat toTottenham HotspuratGriffin Parkon the opening day of the1949–50season.[4]He began his Brentford career as aninside leftand scored his first goal for the club after 20 seconds of an eventual 4–1 defeat toBlackburn Roversin September 1949.[4]Coote's Brentford career failed to ignite untilplayer-managerTommy Lawtonselected him asleft halffor a match versusNotts Countyin March 1953.[2]Coote gave a strong performance in a 5–0 victory which eased the club's fears of relegation to theThird Division South.[2]
Coote became a near-ever present for Brentford and remained with the club after suffering relegation to the Third Division South in the1953–54season.[4]Coote's durability over the next 9 years saw him claim the club record for consecutiveFA Cupappearances (30) and aside from playing on both flanks atfull back,[5]he also played in six other outfield positions.[6]After missing the first 9 games of the1954–55season, Coote missed only 16 of the club's next 378 league games.[2]Ever-increasingly used as autility man,Coote filled eight different positions during his time at Griffin Park.[2]Attention from First Division clubsArsenalandWest Bromwich Albioncame his way, but deals never materialised.[7]At the end of the1960–61season, Coote was jointly-awarded atestimonialwithJohnny Rainfordversus an All Star XI for his service to the club.[2]
Despite his durability, it was only during the1962–63season that Coote was an ever-present and he capped his campaign bycaptainingthe Bees to theFourth Divisiontitle.[2]Coote made his final appearance in December 1963 and retired in April 1964,[5]having made 559 appearances for Brentford.[4]Coote's career virtually ran in parallel withgoalkeeperGerry Cakebreadand both players were named on the team sheet together 357 times.[8]He remains the club's record appearance-maker and (rarely for adefender) was neverbookedin his career.[9]Coote was offered opportunities to continue his career innon-League football,but chose to remain in retirement.[2]He was awarded a second testimonial versusWest Ham United,managed by Ron Greenwood, in September 1965, from which he earned more than £1,000 (equivalent to £24,500 in 2024).[5]In 2013, Coote placed second in aFootball League125th Anniversary poll of Brentford's best ever captains and he has been inducted into the club'sHall of Fame.[10][11]
Representative career
[edit]Coote's exploits for Brentford saw him win representative honours.[2]He was named as a reserve for theThird Division South representative teamin a match against the Third Division North on 2 April 1957.[2]Coote also played for the representativeLondon XIteam, which reached the final of the1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.[2]He played in the group stage and semi-final matches against a Basel XI andLausanne Sportsrespectively.[2]Coote played in the first leg of the final, which was drawn 2–2 withBarcelona.[12]
Personal life
[edit]After completing hisNational Serviceand before signing for Brentford, Coote worked for his father inremovals.[7]After retiring from football, Coote used the £1,000 earned from his second testimonial match to buy a three-bedroomsemi-detachedhouse in the Brentford area.[13]He later became manager of abetting shopinHounslow,owned by former Brentford teammateFrank Morrad.[2]On 2 August 2003, Coote died aged 75 following a short illness.[6]He had been living inWhitton.[7]
Career statistics
[edit]| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1949–50[4] | Second Division | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 20 | 3 | |
| 1950–51[4] | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | |||
| 1951–52[4] | 24 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | 28 | 4 | |||
| 1952–53[4] | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | |||
| 1953–54[4] | 40 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 0 | |||
| 1954–55[4] | Third Division South | 37 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 43 | 1 | ||
| 1955–56[4] | 45 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 47 | 2 | |||
| 1956–57[4] | 44 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 47 | 1 | |||
| 1957–58[4] | 45 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 46 | 2 | |||
| 1958–59[4] | Third Division | 44 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 48 | 0 | ||
| 1959–60[4] | 42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 44 | 0 | |||
| 1960–61[4] | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 46 | 0 | ||
| 1961–62[4] | 45 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 0 | ||
| 1962–63[4] | Fourth Division | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 49 | 0 | |
| 1963–64[4] | Third Division | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| Career total | 514 | 14 | 35 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 559 | 15 | ||
Honours
[edit]Brentford
Individual
References
[edit]- ^abc"Ken Coote".Barry Hugman's Footballers.Retrieved18 October2015.
- ^abcdefghijklmnopqHaynes, Graham (1998).A-Z of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia.Yore Publications. p. 41.ISBN1-874427-57-7.
- ^Brentford Football Supporters And Social Club Official Handbook – 1949–50.1949. p. 36.
- ^abcdefghijklmnopqrsWhite, Eric, ed. (1989).100 Years Of Brentford.Brentford FC. pp. 380–387.ISBN0951526200.
- ^abc"Hall Of Fame".Brentford Football Club. Archived fromthe originalon 8 February 2002.Retrieved30 June2017.
- ^ab"Ken Coote RIP".brentfordfc.co.uk.4 August 2003. Archived fromthe originalon 19 February 2018.Retrieved19 February2018.
- ^abcLane, David (2005).Cult Bees & Legends: Volume One.Hampton Wick: Woodpecker Multimedia. pp. 13–21.ISBN0-9543682-0-7.
- ^@BrentfordFC (26 October 2012)."The correct answer is Ken Coote and Gerry Cakebread who appeared together 357 times (Cakebread only played 17 games in career without Coote)"(Tweet) – viaTwitter.
- ^TW8 Matchday versus Oldham Athletic.London: The Yellow Printing Company Limited. 25 August 2003. p. 32.
- ^"Brentford".Football League 125.Archived fromthe originalon 10 March 2016.Retrieved14 June2015.
- ^abWickham, Chris."Kevin O'Connor and Marcus Gayle join others in being added to Brentford FC Hall of Fame".www.brentfordfc.co.uk.Retrieved15 January2016.
- ^"Masterpiece – London XI".Pennantsmuseum.com. Archived fromthe originalon 1 December 2016.Retrieved27 July2014.
- ^Griffin Gazette: Brentford's Official Matchday Magazine versus Crewe Alexandra.Quay Design of Poole. 6 April 1996. p. 20.