Ernie Cooksey 1980 - 2008

The reaction of fans everywhere to the tragic loss of Ernie Cooksey speaks as a true measure of the man.

Only rarely does such an engaging footballer come along - he loved his trade with a passion and in turn the fans on the terraces adored him.

A warm character who packed in his job in the building trade to follow his dream in professional football, Ernie's sparkling attitude was the true blueprint for aspiring footballers to follow.

The Athletic faithful were well and truly won over within ten minutes of his debut for the club in a friendly at Rochdale back in summer 2003 as Cooksey charged around the Spotland pitch full of the energy and commitment which would come to characterise his time at Boundary Park.

Coyly shielding himself from the chants of 'Ernie For England' cascading from the away end, Ernie still had no idea just what a legend he had already become and the impact he would go on to have at the club.

Originally a blue-collar stalwart of the building trade, the ex-Colchester trainee was playing part-time for non-league Crawley Town when his shot at the big time - a step up to the Football League - came unexpectedly.

Iain Dowie was looking to rebuild after seeing his squad ravaged by the club's well-documented financial problems at the end of the 2002/03 season and handed Cooksey an unlikely opportunity to come to Boundary Park.

He made an immediate impression with an exemplary work ethic and no shortage of grit and graft - and arrived in the professional game with a debut in the 2-1 defeat to Brenford on August 25, 2003 after signing on full time.

A first goal arrived just weeks afterwards in a 2-2 draw with Peterborough, and Cooksey went on to play a major part as new boss Brian Talbot kept a patched-up Athletic side in English football's third tier, making 40 appearances in total.

But it was one goal which really underlined what Ernie Cooksey was all about.

Queens Park Rangers travelled north just before Christmas 2003 flying at the top of the league and boasting one of the best records in the country, while Latics were struggling in the lower reaches.  When Lee Thorpe gave the visitors a 31st-minute lead, betting men would have put their house on all three points returning south with the visitors.

But the R's reckoned without one of the Football League's newest additions.  Cooksey grafted away in the middle of the park to drag his team back into the game - and popped up with the equaliser to turn the game on its head.

The strike was a typical Ernie effort, the midfielder straining every sinew to defy his small stature by clawing back the inches on his marker to rise highest and power home a cross.

It was a fitting reward when John Eyre struck the winner at the Chaddy End with just four minutes remaining to secure a result which gave the club a massive - and timely - boost.

A first-team regular until the end of the season, Ernie kicked off the 2004/05 campaign at Luton, but that was to be his final appearance in a Latics shirt as a move to Rochdale was completed on September 16, 2004.

If the Spotland faithful didn't know what a star they'd acquired, they found out in short order and fell in love with the diminutive midfielder as quickly as Athletic's fans had before them.

He made his Dale debut just two days after signing as Latics' near neighbours went down 1-0 against Mansfield at Field Mill.  Cooksey scored his first goal for Dale in the 3-0 win over Macclesfield on October 30 that year, and finished the season with a tally of five strikes in 39 appearances overall.

Ernie pulled on the Dale shirt on a regular basis in 2005/06, playing 37 games in total and adding a further 24 appearances in the early stages of the 2006/07 campaign.  But he moved on to Boston in February 2007, and the cash-strapped outfit were relegated at the end of the season.

Soon the midfielder was on the move again, beginning the 2007/08 campaign with Grays Athletic in the Blue Square Premier.  He appeared 19 times early in the season, but events off the pitch were soon to overtake those on it.

Cooksey had battled cancer in the past, and football fans everywhere were shocked to learn the well-liked footballer who was really one of them was facing a second battle. 

A 2-0 home defeat to Exeter was to be Ernie's last professional football match as he and his family steeled themselves for another brave fight.  Immediately fans everywhere sprang to help, with a fighting fund established to help pay for treatment in America.

Cooksey made an emotional return to Boundary Park in May when two teams of friends came together to play a charity game in front of almost 2,000 fans.  Ernie himself stepped out to kick the game off and later returned to net an emotional penalty.

Grays had held a game of their own, and money poured in as supporters got behind the man they considered to be one of their own.

Soon, though, the club learned that Ernie had been admitted to hospital, and he passed away last night surrounded by his family, including pregnant partner Louise.

Ernie may be gone, but fans' memories of him will live on, and what memories!  Cliche it may be, but the loveable character touched and inspired more people in his 28 years that others do in a lifetime.

A fighter until the very end and a shining example not just as a footballer, but as a human being.  Ernie, you will be sadly missed.