a two-month loan in December 1984 and he later signed permanently for fee ranging between £20,000 and £25,000. He quickly found form, scoring 16 goals in 31 games and scoring what proved to be a consolation in the 3–1 1985 Football League Trophy Final defeat to Wigan Athletic. Cooke finished the 1984–85 season as both Brentford and Cambridge United's top scorer, which was only the third time in history the feat had been managed. Three years of mid-table mediocrity followed and Cooke departed Brentford in December 1987, having scored 64 goals in 150 games for the Bees. Millwall Cooke joined Second Division high-flyers Millwall on 11 December 1987 for a £30,000 fee and scored one goal in five appearances during the remainder of the 1987–88 season. He was unable to break up the forward pairing of Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham and departed the Lions in September 1988. Kettering Town Cooke dropped back into non-League football to join Conference club Kettering Town in September 1988. He had a prolific spell with the Poppies, scoring 49 goals in 95 appearances across three seasons in which the club consistently challenged for promotion to the Football League. Non-League nomad Cooke ended his career with spells at Northampton Spencer, Bourne Town and a second stint at Grantham Town. International career Cooke's form while at Kettering Town won him England C recognition. Managerial and coaching career Cooke had a spell as player-coach at Southern League Midland Division club Grantham Town during the 1991–92 season. After his retirement from football, Cooke became manager at Eastern Counties League First Division club Warboys Town. In December 1998, Cooke returned to Kettering Town to become assistant manager and first team coach. Scouting career Cooke was invited to become a part-time scout for Preston North End by former Cambridge United teammate and then-Preston manager David Moyes. Cooke subsequently followed Moyes to Premier League club Everton in 2002 and Manchester United in 2013, serving as chief scout at both clubs. After Moyes was sacked by Manchester United in April 2014, Cooke was not retained by incoming manager Louis van Gaal. In November 2014, Cooke was appointed to the role of UK and International Scout at Burnley. By June 2017, he had left the club. Cooke reunited with David Moyes at Premier League club West Ham United in 2020 and held the role of chief scout until his death in August 2021.