Page 11 - 360633 LP236168 A Love Supreme 48pp A5 (April 2022)

came as a massive shock at the end of 2020 when we discovered he’d been given the heave-ho without so much as a word from the club. No announcement, nothing – and that sat badly with the fans, who felt that all those years of service deserved so much more. Calls were made for his reinstatement, or at least some sort of recognition, but nothing came of it.
Until now. South Shields have agreed to stage a testimonial for the Lad at their ground at the end of May. The game will see a side managed by Cooke take on a team managed by ex-SAFC boss Peter Reid. It will honour Cooke’s service to Sunderland, where he played between 1979 and 1985 before serving as kit manager from 1994 to 2020.
Peter is, of course, still well thought of on Wearside, and tries to visit the area as often as possible, ALS caught up with him on his recent visit: “I still get up here and I’ve got friends
up here like Gilly, and I go to Romano’s with a couple of chaps. The people are fantastic, it’s a great area and great supporters.”
Reidy remains in regular contact with the people he met in the North East: “Yeah. When you have friends, you have friends for life, don’t you?”
So how did the idea for Cookie’s testimonial first come about? “We were in
Romano’s, myself, Cookie, Gilly, and Bobby Saxton. When Cookie went to the toilet we had a
think about it. We then had a chat about it, and Geoff Thompson the chairman of South Shields gave us the ground, so it just evolved from there. It’s fantastic for the lad because he gave great
service to the football club.”
On Cookie’s influence on the football
club, Reid said: “The
dressing room is the most important place in a football club. It’s a given, the dressing
room. To be fair, Cookie was absolutely
Reid and Cooke
outstanding in the dressing room. Absolutely outstanding. When players don’t want to come to
the manager or the assistant, sometimes they have a word with the kitman. Don’t forget that he was a good player too, so he was on the same wavelength as the players, which was really good.”
Do you think it helps that John was a former player himself? “Yeah, I do yeah. I’m not saying you can’t do the job if you’re not (a former player) but in my experience with John, it was tremendous. And besides the relationship he had with the players, he never made a mistake with the kit and the boots. At Sunderland he was spot on, and that’s a big responsibility at a football club.”
Over 30 legends of North East football are set to attend the event, including former players of both Sunderland and Newcastle. “I’m sure with some of the players coming along, it’ll be a great day for Sunderland fans.”
Reid also hears the odd rendition of ‘Cheer Up Peter Reid’, which found itself in the charts at one point! “Yes I do, and it makes me laugh. It’s brilliant. I prefer the Sunderland version to the Newcastle one, put it that way!”
We also caught up with Cookie, who added: “Kevin Phillips first put it out there which I thought was a nice gesture. Then a few weeks later Reidy took it on board. I think he wants to give me a send-off with recognition of 35 years at Sunderland AFC. He probably thinks I should have gotten it from the club. I am proud and lucky to have been with the club for 35 years, and am humbled to have the players coming along to support the day.”
The game will take place on Sunday, May 29th at 1st Cloud Arena, with events and entertainment occurring throughout the day. Supporters can buy tickets via southshieldsfc.co.uk
ALOVESUPREME ISSUE258 11
BY DANIEL MCCALLUM