Allan Charles Cockram (born 8 October 1963) is an English retired professional footballer who played in the Football League for Tottenham Hotspur, Bristol Rovers, Brentford and Reading as a midfielder or winger. He later player-managed St Albans City and Chertsey Town in non-League football. Cockram is currently manager of Cambridge University.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Allan Charles Cockram[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1963-10-08) 8 October 1963 (age 58) | ||
| Place of birth | Kensington, England | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder, winger | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Cambridge University (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1975–1981 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1985 | Tottenham Hotspur | 2 | (0) |
| 1985 | San Francisco Flyers | ||
| 1985 | Bristol Rovers | 1 | (0) |
| 1985 | San Jose (indoor) | ||
| 1986 | Farnborough Town | ||
| 1987–1988 | St Albans City | 44 | (25) |
| 1988–1991 | Brentford | 90 | (14) |
| 1991 | Woking | ||
| 1991–1992 | Reading | 6 | (1) |
| 1992 | Farnborough Town | ||
| 1992 | Woking | ||
| 1992–1996 | St Albans City | 98 | (25) |
| 1996–1997 | Chertsey Town | ||
| 1999–2000 | Leatherhead | ||
| National team | |||
| England Youth | |||
| Teams managed | |||
| 1985 | San Francisco Flyers | ||
| 1994–1996 | St Albans City (player-manager) | ||
| 1996–1997 | Chertsey Town (player-manager) | ||
| 2019– | Cambridge University | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
A winger, Cockram joined Tottenham Hotspur as a schoolboy in 1975 and went on to make two first team appearances for the Lilywhites towards the end of the 1983–84 season.[2][3] He was released at the end of the 1984–85 season and a two-year period followed as a football nomad, which included short periods playing for Bristol Rovers and Farnborough Town and two spells in the United States.[4] A move to Isthmian League Premier Division club St Albans City during the latter part of the 1986–87 season, in a bid to return to fitness following an achilles injury,[5] proved to be the turning point in Cockram's career.[2] He was voted the Saints' Player of the Year at the end of the 1987–88 season.[6]
After a successful period training full-time with Brentford during the 1987–88 season,[5] Cockram signed a contract with the club in March 1988.[7] He made 118 appearances and scored 17 goals for the club before his release at the end of the 1990–91 season.[7] After a spell back in non-League football with Woking,[1] Cockram made a return to the Football League with Reading in October 1991 and rejoined St Albans City prior to the beginning of the 1992–93 season.[1][8] He remained at Clarence Park until the end of 1995–96 season and scored 73 goals in 211 appearances across his six seasons with the club.[8] Cockram finished his career with spells at non-League clubs Chertsey Town and Leatherhead.[2]
Cockram player-managed non-League clubs St Albans City and Chertsey Town.[2] He was later a technical specialist at Philadelphia Union and coached at University College London.[9][10] In 2017, Cockram established Brentford Penguins, a Down Syndrome football club.[10] In 2019, he became manager of Cambridge University.[11]
Cockram represented England Youth.[2]
Cockram worked as a firefighter in west London and later became a businessman.[5]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1983–84[3] | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| St Albans City | 1986–87[12] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 11 | 4 | — | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | 13 | 6 | |||
| 1987–88[13] | 33 | 21 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9[lower-alpha 2] | 8 | 42 | 29 | ||||
| Total | 44 | 25 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 10 | 55 | 35 | ||||
| Brentford | 1987–88[14] | Third Division | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 2 | ||||
| 1988–89[14] | 37 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | 51 | 10 | |||
| 1989–90[15] | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 3[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 31 | 2 | |||
| 1990–91[16] | 20 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 29 | 3 | |||
| Total | 90 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | 13 | 1 | 118 | 17 | |||
| Reading | 1991–92[17] | Third Division | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 8 | 1 | ||
| St Albans City | 1992–93[18] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 35 | 12 | 6 | 3 | — | — | 17[lower-alpha 4] | 4 | 58 | 19 | ||
| 1993–94[19] | 28 | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 10[lower-alpha 5] | 2 | 39 | 9 | ||||
| 1994–95[20] | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16[lower-alpha 6] | 4 | 32 | 6 | ||||
| 1995–96[21] | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5[lower-alpha 7] | 0 | 25 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 142 | 50 | 9 | 3 | — | — | 60 | 20 | 211 | 73 | ||||
| Career total | 240 | 65 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 21 | 339 | 91 | ||
St Albans City
Individual