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Brad Cooke is appointed manager of Runcorn Linnets


Brad Cooke (right) with assistant Rob Sadler.
Brad Cooke (right) with assistant Rob Sadler.

Runcorn Linnets are excited to unveil Brad Cooke as our first team boss.  

 

Brad comes with an excellent reputation as a player and manager.  

 

He performed both roles at Atherton Collieries in a 10-year association, captaining  their 2016-17 team to the North West Counties Premier Division title.  

 

The 38-year-old launched his managerial career in June 2019 with West Didsbury & Chorlton, also in the NWCL. But within six months and after an approach was made, he returned to Colls as boss. 

 


Brad's incoming  assistant at Linnets, Rob Sadler was also the manager's right-hand man at WD&C and his assistant at Colls, where they consolidated the club's position in the Northern Premier League Premier Division (Step 3).  

 

Both Brad and Rob have an excellent knowledge and appreciation of our league as well as the divisions above and below.  

 

As a player, Brad served Ashton United, Salford City, Atherton LR, Ramsbottom United and Ashton Athletic before linking up with Atherton Collieries and later Northwich Victoria.  

 

In a six-year playing stint at Colls, he made 265 appearances as the kingpin of the team under Michael Clegg, who he later succeeded as boss. (Clegg was reappointed manager at Dreams2Reality Stadium in August 2024).  

 

Brad had starred in Colls' championship-winning teams in NWCL One and then its Premier Division while also lifting the Macron Cup and Evo-Stik League Integro Cup.  

 

In summer 2018, he moved to Northwich Vics, being  awarded the captaincy by their then manager, former Linnets boss Steve Wilkes.  

 

2018-19 saw Vics reach the semi-finals of the FA Vase and win the Mid-Cheshire Cup.    

 

However, the step-up into management was imminent for the then 33-year-old Brad, who outside football is a hospital contracts executive for BUPA.  

 

He returned to Greater Manchester to take the helm at West Didsbury & Chorlton, beating more than 30 other candidates to the post.  

 

Rob Sadler joined him at Brookburn Road, having been goalkeeping coach at Ramsbotton United, Colls and latterly Vics. Rob had played for Atherton LR and Prestwich Heys.  

 

At the time in NWCL South, WD&C pulled off a highly-creditable 0-0 draw in the Emirates FA Cup at Stalybridge Celtic, narrowly losing the replay 2-3 to an outfit then playing three steps higher.


He won eight of the first nine league games, picking up a Manager of the Month award.  

 

West Didsbury's co-chairman Rob McKay described Brad and Rob's team as "one of the most exciting and talented teams we’ve seen in recent years".  

 

West were in the hunt for promotion, in sixth position with plenty games in hand, due to cup form.


However, when the opportunity arose to rejoin Colls as manager, Brad found it impossible to turn it down.  

 

The week after Michael Clegg's resignation to become boss of Ashton United, Brad was back in the fold with Rob Sadler on assistant duties. 

 

First arriving at Colls in 2012, Brad had also skippered the club in their debut NPL Premier campaign after promotion and his input as manager only enhanced his reputation with the club and its supporters.  

 

What Colls described as "consistently formidable results and performances" over the Covid-curtailed 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons prompted a two-year contract extension for Brad in April 2021.  

 

The stint as Colls manager ended with his resignation almost exactly two years later - after 126 competitive matches.  

 

Step 3 status had been retained against the odds and with the club punching above its weight.  

 

In 2023, Brad's last game in charge, Colls appeared in the Lancashire FA Trophy final for the first time in the club's history, losing on penalties to Southport of National League North.  


Brad left Colls in a great position, having secured their highest ever league position in the football pyramid.


He had also led Colls on the best FA Cup and FA Trophy runs in their history.  

 

Colls chairman Paul Gregory said on the manager’s departure: "Brad is the most amenable manager I have ever worked with, and the hardest working one to boot."   

 

Brad has been out of football since leaving Colls at the end of 22/23 season. Rob Sadler has been part of the Ramsbottom United management team for this season, leaving them in a great position and pushing for promotion.   

 

Brad has rejected several job offers in the meantime, but the opportunity at Runcorn Linnets is the right job with the right club at the right time.

 

Chairman Peter Cartledge (left) and vice-chairman/treasurer Jeff Jago (right) welcome Brad Cooke to Runcorn Linnets
Chairman Peter Cartledge (left) and vice-chairman/treasurer Jeff Jago (right) welcome Brad Cooke to Runcorn Linnets

   

  

 

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