Harry Cooksley

Harry Cooksley

Personal information
Full name	Harry Edward Cooksley
Date of birth	(1994-11-15) 15 November 1994 (age 29)
Place of birth	Guildford, England
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Farnham Town
Number	8
Youth career
2002–2011	Reading
2011–2012	Queens Park Rangers
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2015	Limestone Saints	37	(17)
2016–2017	St. John's Red Storm	31	(9)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2013	Aldershot Town	1	(0)
2013–2014	AFC Wimbledon	0	(0)
2018	Mallorca B	0	(0)
2019	Farnborough	12	(1)
2019	→ Badshot Lea (loan)	4	(1)
2019–2020	Pinzgau Saalfelden	27	(10)
2021–2022	Farnborough	7	(0)
2022	→ Hartley Wintney (loan)	15	(3)
2022–2023	Hartley Wintney	24	(8)
2023–	Farnham Town	34	(14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:58, 18 April 2024 (UTC)

Harry Edward Cooksley (born 15 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Farnham Town.

Cooksley previously played for Limestone College in NCAA Division II, St. John's University in NCAA Division 1 as well as senior football for Aldershot Town, AFC Wimbledon, Farnborough and Hartley Wintney.

Career

Cooksley joined the Academy of Football League Championship side Reading at the age of eight and progressed through the youth system of The Royals up until his release at the age of sixteen, at which point he joined the Academy of Queens Park Rangers. Following his release from QPR in January 2012, he joined the Academy of Football League One side Brentford on trial, but was ultimately unsuccessful in his pursuit to earn a contract with The Bees. However, on 10 August 2012, he was able to sign his first professional contract with Football League Two side Aldershot Town on a one–year deal. ^[1]

The 17–year–old midfielder made his league debut for Aldershot Town on 18 August 2012 in a 2–0 victory over Plymouth Argyle as an injury time substitute for Josh Payne, in what would prove to be his first and last appearance for the club. ^[2] Aldershot Town struggled throughout the season and were eventually relegated to the Conference National after finishing 24th in the league. On 1 May 2013 it was revealed that the club had failed to pay players their wages for the previous month. ^[3] On 2 May 2013 Aldershot entered administration. ^[4] On 16 May 2013, the administrators of Aldershot Town, Quantuma Restructuring, were forced to make 13 players redundant. ^[5] Thus with the club in a state of financial turmoil and the possibility of a new contract rendered unfeasible, Cooksley left Aldershot Town.

The 18–year–old midfielder subsequently joined League Two side AFC Wimbledon on trial, making his first appearance for the Development squad in a 2–1 win over Portsmouth on 13 August 2013. ^[6] On 19 September 2013 it was announced that Cooksley had signed a professional one–year contract with The Dons after impressing during his month on trial. ^{[7] [8]}

After four years playing college soccer in America, Cooksley signed for Segunda División B side Mallorca. ^[9] Cooksley made three appearances for the club's B team in the Tercera División during his time with the club. ^[10]

In January 2019, Cooksley joined Southern League Premier Division South club Farnborough and was subsequently sent out on a short-term loan deal to Combined Counties Premier Division side Badshot Lea. ^[11] He returned to his parent club a month later and went on to make 12 appearances, scoring once. ^[12]

In July 2019, Cooksley joined Austrian Regionalliga club Pinzgau Saalfelden. ^[13] In December 2020 was released by Austrian side Pinzgau. ^[14]

On 6 June 2021, it was announced that Cooksley would return to Farnborough ahead of the 2021–22 campaign. ^[15] Cooksley later joined league rivals, Hartley Wintney in January 2022 on loan. ^[16] On 29 May 2022, it was announced that Cooksley would leave the club at the end of his contract in June. ^[17]

On 11 June 2022, Cooksley agreed to return to Hartley Wintney following his release from Farnborough. Upon his arrival he was appointed club captain. ^[18]

On 27 May 2023, Cooksley made the switch to Combined Counties League Premier Division South side, Farnham Town ahead of the 2023–24 campaign. ^[19]

Career statistics

As of match played 16 April 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aldershot Town	2012–13 [20]	League Two	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
AFC Wimbledon	2013–14 [21]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mallorca B	2017–18 [21]	3ª – Group 11	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
Farnborough	2018–19 [22]	Southern League Premier Division South	12	1	—		—		—		12	1
Badshot Lea (loan)	2018–19 [23]	Combined Counties League Premier Division	4	1	—		—		—		4	1
Pinzgau Saalfelden	2019–20 [21]	Austrian Regionalliga Salzburg	17	8	—		—		—		17	8
	2020–21 [21]	Austrian Regionalliga Salzburg	10	2	—		—		—		10	2
	Total		27	10	—		—		—		27	10
Farnborough	2021–22 [22]	Southern League Premier Division South	7	0	0	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 1]	1	10	1
Hartley Wintney (loan)	2021–22 [22]	Southern League Premier Division South	15	3	—		—		—		15	3
Hartley Wintney	2022–23 [22]	Southern League Premier Division South	24	8	3	0	—		0	0	27	8
Farnham Town	2023–24 [24]	Combined Counties League Premier Division South	34	14	3	0	—		5 [lower-alpha 2]	2	42	16
Career total			124	37	6	0	0	0	8	3	138	40

1. Appearances in the FA Trophy
2. Appearances in the FA Vase

References

1. "Aldershot Town sign young midfielder Harry Cooksley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
2. "Plymouth Argyle 0–2 Aldershot Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
3. "Aldershot Town: Relegated club fails to pay players for April". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
4. "Aldershot Town: Relegated club goes into administration". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
5. "Aldershot Town: Administrators make 13 players redundant". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
6. "Bamba goal downs Pompey". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
7. "Harry Cooksley agrees one-year deal with AFC Wimbledon". skysports.com. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
8. "Harry on joining the Dons". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
9. "Cares noves al Mallorca" [New faces in Mallorca] (in Spanish). IB3. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
10. "Harry Edward at La Preferente". lapreferente.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 July 2019.
11. "Persistence pays off as Lea score late double". bordonherald.com. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
12. "HARRY COOKSLEY at Aylesbury United". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
13. @FCPSen (20 July 2019). "More press in the Austrian papers for #FCPS. A few familiar faces in the photo too" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 July 2019– via Twitter.
14. "Fünf Abgänge beim FC Pinzgau Saalfelden". Salzburg24.at (in German). 19 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
15. Whitney, Steve (6 June 2021). "Cooksley returns to Farnborough". Southern Football League . Retrieved 8 October 2021.
16. "Hartley Wintney FC on Twitter". Hartley Wintney F.C. 22 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
17. Lloyd, Dom (29 May 2022). "Squad Update". Farnborough F.C. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
18. "Harry Cooksley: Midfielder re-signs and appointed club captain". Hartley Wintney F.C. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
19. "Farnham Town FC on Twitter". Farnham Town F.C. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
20. "Games played by Harry Cooksley in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
21. "H. Cooksley". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
22. "Harry Cooksley Profile". Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
23. "Harry Cooksley player stats". The FA. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
24. "Harry Edward Cooksley Player Stats". The FA. Retrieved 25 August 2023.

External links

• Harry Cooksley at Soccerbase