Sandy Cochrane

Alexander Fraser Cochrane (8 August 1900 – 2 September 1967), known as Sandy or Alex Cochrane, was a Scottish footballer who scored 68 goals from 318 appearances in the Football League while playing for Middlesbrough, Darlington, Bradford City, Chesterfield, Northampton Town and Swindon Town. He began his career with Shawfield Juniors, played in the Scottish League for Alloa Athletic, East Stirlingshire and Dumbarton, and spent time with Welsh club Llanelly.[1]

"Alex Cochrane" redirects here. For other uses, see Alexander Cochrane (disambiguation).

Sandy Cochrane
Personal information
Full name Alexander Fraser Cochrane[1][2]
Date of birth (1900-08-08)8 August 1900
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death 2 September 1967(1967-09-02) (aged 67)
Place of death Kettering, England
Height 5 ft 5 1⁄2 in (1.66 m)[3]
Position(s) Inside forward / outside right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1922 Shawfield Juniors
1922–1923 Alloa Athletic
1923–1926 Middlesbrough 67 (8)
1926–1929 Darlington 100 (24)
1929–1931 Bradford City 69 (27)
1931–1932 Chesterfield 27 (1)
1932–1934 Llanelly
1934–1935 Northampton Town 42 (7)
1935–1936 Swindon Town 13 (1)
1936–1937 East Stirlingshire
1937–1938 Dumbarton[4] 15 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Cochrane was born on 8 August 1900 in Glasgow, where he began his football career with Shawfield Juniors.[1][2] He joined Alloa Athletic in January 1922,[5] helped them win the Division Two title and with it automatic promotion to Division One, and established a reputation as a goalscorer.[6] Cochrane moved to England to sign for First Division club Middlesbrough for what was reported as a four-figure fee,[7] scoring on his debut against Arsenal on 3 March 1923 to help his team to their first win of the year.[8] Middlesbrough were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the following season, and in April 1926 became one of several former first-team regulars to be transfer-listed.[9]

He signed for Darlington for the new season,[10] and over the next two-and-a-half years (the first in the Second Division, the remainder in the Third), he scored 24 goals from 100 League appearances.[1] In January 1929, he returned to the second tier with Bradford City for an undisclosed fee.[11] At Bradford he played 69 league games scoring 27 goals, as well as netting four goals from five FA Cup games. He was the club's top scorer with 21 goals in 1929–30 as they avoided relegation from the Second Division by just one point.[12]

Cochrane spent the 1931–32 season with Chesterfield before joining Llanelly, a Welsh club playing in both the Southern League and the Welsh League, in September 1932. The Taunton Courier was effusive about his debut: "The new player was a great success, showing splendid ball control and a capacity for carrying on flanking movements which has never been surpassed by any Llanelly player. On Saturday's form he is a wonderful capture, and he had the distinction of scoring a brace of goals in a manner which marked him as a fine opportunist."[13] He went on to captain the side,[3] and scored the winner as they beat Cheltenham Town in the third qualifying round of the 1933–34 FA Cup,[14] only to be eliminated because his team contained ineligible players.[15] In January 1934, Cochrane resumed his Football League with Northampton Town.[3]

After 18 months with Northampton and a season with Swindon Town, Cochrane returned to Scotland where he signed for Second Division club East Stirlingshire.[16] He was retained for the 1937–38 season,[17] but by November, the club was in deep financial trouble. Cochrane was one of several players released after refusing the club's proposal that they accept a proportion of the gate money in lieu of salary.[18] Within days, he joined divisional rivals Dumbarton,[19] where he finished the season.

Cochrane died on 2 September 1967 in Kettering, in Northamptonshire, England, at the age of 67.[2]

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  2. Basson, Stuart (18 February 2010). "Chesterfield FC: Football League players, 1921 to 2009". Chesterfield F.C. Archived from the original (XLS) on 29 March 2012.
  3. "Llanelly captain Cochrane transferred To Northampton". Gloucestershire Echo. 5 January 1934. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
  5. "Untitled". Hull Daily Mail. 28 February 1923. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Promotion points". Derby Daily Telegraph. 25 September 1926. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive. Alex used to be a force in the Scottish League with Alloa Athletic but he does not appear to have brought his happy knack of prolific scoring to England, though his generalship is very valuable.
  7. "Sports of all sorts". Edinburgh Evening News. 11 April 1923. p. 10 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Middlesbrough v. The Arsenal. Home club's first victory this year". Yorkshire Post. 5 March 1923. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Middlesbrough clearance". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 30 April 1926. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive. A drastic clearance of players is being made by Middlesbrough, who created a local sensation yesterday by the announcement that the following players have been placed on the open to transfer list:– Clough, Bissett, McAllister, Good, Jones, Thompson, Cochrane. Four figure fees were paid for at least four of these men.
  10. "Sporting items". Nottingham Evening Post. 22 July 1926. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive. Darlington have signed on Alex Cochrane, an inside-left from Middlesbrough. Cochrane has been at Ayresome Park in the past three seasons, and is a crafty player.
  11. "Darlington forward for City". Yorkshire Post. 19 January 1929. p. 24 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. Frost, Terry (1988). Bradford City A Complete Record 1903–1988. Breedon Books Sport. ISBN 0-907969-38-0.
  13. "Taunton at Llanelly". Taunton Courier. 14 September 1932. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. 'Kaye Jay' (2 November 1933). "Town lose through weak shooting". Gloucestershire Echo. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive. In attack, Cochrane was the star. He gave his fellow-forwards many opportunities, and it was a fine goal that he got for himself.
  15. "Cheltenham's F.A. Cup protest upheld". Western Daily Press and Bristol Mirror. 8 November 1933. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. "Sports section. Tie at Muirton". Dundee Courier and Advertiser. 11 August 1936. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. "McAulay for transfer". Dundee Courier and Advertiser. 22 April 1937. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. "East Stirling F.C.'s crisis. Six players released". Sunderland Echo. 17 November 1937. p. 12 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. "East Stirling lose another player". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. 18 November 1937. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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