Garry Cook (CEO)
Encyclopedia
Garry Cook is a British
football executive, having worked for Manchester City between 2008 and 2011 and Nike
between 1996 and 2008.
in 1996. Cook worked his way up to head of the Nike project "Brand Jordan
," working very closely with basketball
star Michael Jordan
while working at Nike.
contacted Cook about becoming CEO of the club after the departure of Alistair Mackintosh. Cook accepted the offer and was appointed CEO of the club in May 2008. His wages were £1,500,000 in 2009.
One of Cook's first tasks with his new club was to find a new manager after Sven Goran-Eriksson had been dismissed; he targeted Mark Hughes
of Blackburn Rovers. On 4 June 2008, Hughes signed a three-year deal with the club. On the day Hughes was unveiled to the media, Cook stated: "I am delighted to welcome Mark on board, In our view he is the brightest young manager in the game and he was our number one target for the manager's job."
In August 2008 he criticised club captain Richard Dunne
, who the fans had voted player of the year for the previous four seasons, saying "China and India are gagging for football content to watch and we’re going to tell them that City is their content. We need a superstar to get through that door. Richard Dunne doesn’t roll off the tongue in Beijing". He also said of Thaksin, "Is he a nice guy? Yes. Is he a great guy to play golf with? Yes. Has he got the finances to run a club? Yes....Whether he’s guilty of something over there, I can’t worry too much about....Morally, I feel comfortable in this environment". Just over a year later Cook said he felt "dreadful" about having made that comment. "I have made some mistakes in my life," Cook said, "but I deeply regretted my failure to do proper research on Thaksin".
Cook's new task was player recruitment, completing the signings of Tal Ben Haim
, Jo
, Vincent Kompany
, Pablo Zabaleta
and Shaun Wright-Phillips
.
On 1 September, Manchester City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group
. Cook subsequently completed the transfer of Brazil
ian Robinho
to the club from Real Madrid
for a British transfer record of £32.5 million. After the arrival of the new Abu Dhabi
based owners many thought that they would opt for their own CEO but they decided to keep Cook on. They did, however, appoint a new chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak
, who replaced the outgoing Shinawatra.
After the 2009 January transfer window opened Mark Hughes and Cook sealed signings for Wayne Bridge
, Craig Bellamy
, Shay Given
and Nigel de Jong
. However, Cook failed in a world record bid to bring Kaká
to the club, blaming the breakdown in negotiations on AC Milan, stating, "If you want my personal opinion they bottled it. He clearly was for sale but we never got to meet with the player, the behaviour of AC Milan got in the way."
Cook also did much work away from transfers introducing the "My first City game" campaign where supporters of the club write in their memories of their first ever game watching the team, these have then been placed around the interior of the stadium. Many fans have contributed to this, including Ricky Hatton
.
After City finished 10th in the Premier League in Cook's first season with the club, he went about bringing in further targets of Hughes. In the summer of 2009 Cook signed Gareth Barry
, Roque Santa Cruz
, Stuart Taylor
, Carlos Tévez
, Emmanuel Adebayor
, Kolo Toure
, Joleon Lescott
and Sylvinho
. Cook also built his own team around him with Brian Marwood
joining the club.
Alongside Al Mubarak, Cook has seen the complete overhaul of the club's training base at Carrington
, and scheduled a 2009 summer tour of South Africa
where the squad met Nelson Mandela
.
He made a gaffe by welcoming Uwe Rösler
to the Manchester United Hall of Fame instead of the Manchester City Hall of Fame, and was booed by Manchester City fans. He wrote apology letters to 70 Manchester City supporters' clubs.
On 19 December 2009, Cook was key in relieving Mark Hughes of his duties as City's manager, after just two wins in twelve games, and appointing former Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini
as his replacement.
In September 2011, Cook offered his resignation after insensitive email allegations towards a player's mother. The Manchester City board believed there was evidence to back the allegations and accepted his resignation on 9 September 2011. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak
thanked Cook for his efforts in transforming the club's infrastructure and direction.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
football executive, having worked for Manchester City between 2008 and 2011 and Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
between 1996 and 2008.
Nike
Cook started working for sports wear brand NikeNike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
in 1996. Cook worked his way up to head of the Nike project "Brand Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
," working very closely with basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
star Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
while working at Nike.
Manchester City
On becoming the new owner of Manchester City, Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
contacted Cook about becoming CEO of the club after the departure of Alistair Mackintosh. Cook accepted the offer and was appointed CEO of the club in May 2008. His wages were £1,500,000 in 2009.
One of Cook's first tasks with his new club was to find a new manager after Sven Goran-Eriksson had been dismissed; he targeted Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....
of Blackburn Rovers. On 4 June 2008, Hughes signed a three-year deal with the club. On the day Hughes was unveiled to the media, Cook stated: "I am delighted to welcome Mark on board, In our view he is the brightest young manager in the game and he was our number one target for the manager's job."
In August 2008 he criticised club captain Richard Dunne
Richard Dunne
Richard Patrick Dunne is an Irish footballer who plays as a defender for Aston Villa and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he was a member of the 2002 FIFA World Cup squad and helped his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012.Dunne began his professional career at Everton...
, who the fans had voted player of the year for the previous four seasons, saying "China and India are gagging for football content to watch and we’re going to tell them that City is their content. We need a superstar to get through that door. Richard Dunne doesn’t roll off the tongue in Beijing". He also said of Thaksin, "Is he a nice guy? Yes. Is he a great guy to play golf with? Yes. Has he got the finances to run a club? Yes....Whether he’s guilty of something over there, I can’t worry too much about....Morally, I feel comfortable in this environment". Just over a year later Cook said he felt "dreadful" about having made that comment. "I have made some mistakes in my life," Cook said, "but I deeply regretted my failure to do proper research on Thaksin".
Cook's new task was player recruitment, completing the signings of Tal Ben Haim
Tal Ben Haim
Tal Ben Haim is an Israeli professional footballer who currently plays for Portsmouth.He can play at either centre back or right back. He is also a member of the Israeli national squad...
, Jo
João Alves de Assis Silva
João Alves de Assis Silva , commonly referred to as Jô, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Sport Club Internacional and the Brazil national team as a striker....
, Vincent Kompany
Vincent Kompany
Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany is a Belgian footballer who plays for Manchester City and the Belgium national team. He is capable of playing at both centre back and defensive midfielder. Kompany is of partial Congolese ancestry...
, Pablo Zabaleta
Pablo Zabaleta
Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod is an Argentine footballer who plays for Manchester City.Zabaleta can operate on both sides of the pitch either as a defender or defensive midfielder, but is predominantly a right sided player. Zabaleta also holds a Spanish passport...
and Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers and the England national team. He is the adopted son of former England international, Ian Wright and the half-brother of fellow professional football player Bradley Wright-Phillips...
.
On 1 September, Manchester City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group
Abu Dhabi United Group
The Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment is a United Arab Emirates private equity company owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family and Minister of Presidential Affairs for the UAE...
. Cook subsequently completed the transfer of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian Robinho
Robinho
Robson de Souza , more commonly known as Robinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who currently plays as second striker and winger for Serie A club AC Milan...
to the club from Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
for a British transfer record of £32.5 million. After the arrival of the new Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
based owners many thought that they would opt for their own CEO but they decided to keep Cook on. They did, however, appoint a new chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak
Khaldoon Al Mubarak
H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak is an Emirati businessman.Educated in the United States, he entered a career in construction and real estate, becoming CEO of the Mubadala Development Company...
, who replaced the outgoing Shinawatra.
After the 2009 January transfer window opened Mark Hughes and Cook sealed signings for Wayne Bridge
Wayne Bridge
Wayne Michael Bridge is an English footballer who plays as a left back for Manchester City.A graduate of the Southampton Academy where he made his debut in 1998, he has also played for Chelsea and Fulham during his Premiership career....
, Craig Bellamy
Craig Bellamy
Craig Douglas Bellamy is a Welsh footballer who plays as a striker for Liverpool and the Welsh national team. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy was the captain of the Welsh national side for four years after taking over from Ryan Giggs in 2007, but stood down in January 2011 due to constant injuries...
, Shay Given
Shay Given
Séamus John James "Shay" Given is an Irish footballer who plays for Aston Villa and the Republic of Ireland national team as a goalkeeper. He won the PFA's Player of the Year in 2002....
and Nigel de Jong
Nigel de Jong
Nigel de Jong is a Dutch footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the Netherlands national team....
. However, Cook failed in a world record bid to bring Kaká
Kaká
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite , commonly known as Kaká , is a Brazilian football attacking midfielder who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. Kaká started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club...
to the club, blaming the breakdown in negotiations on AC Milan, stating, "If you want my personal opinion they bottled it. He clearly was for sale but we never got to meet with the player, the behaviour of AC Milan got in the way."
Cook also did much work away from transfers introducing the "My first City game" campaign where supporters of the club write in their memories of their first ever game watching the team, these have then been placed around the interior of the stadium. Many fans have contributed to this, including Ricky Hatton
Ricky Hatton
Richard John Hatton MBE, more commonly known as Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton, , is a former British professional boxer, and currently a promoter....
.
After City finished 10th in the Premier League in Cook's first season with the club, he went about bringing in further targets of Hughes. In the summer of 2009 Cook signed Gareth Barry
Gareth Barry
Gareth Barry is an English footballer who plays for Manchester City and the England national football team.Barry moved to Aston Villa from Brighton & Hove Albion as a youngster, and spent 12 years at the club. He captained Aston Villa, and, at the end of his career with the club, lay eighth in...
, Roque Santa Cruz
Roque Santa Cruz
Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero is a Paraguayan footballer currently playing as a striker for La Liga club Real Betis on loan from Manchester City and the Paraguay national football team....
, Stuart Taylor
Stuart Taylor
Stuart James Taylor is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Manchester City.-Arsenal:Taylor had been at since joining the club in 1997 as a youth player, though he was loaned out several times – to Bristol Rovers , Crystal Palace , Peterborough United...
, Carlos Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
, Emmanuel Adebayor
Emmanuel Adebayor
Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor is a Togolese footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur as a striker on loan from Manchester City. He plays in the same position for the Togo national team. Adebayor previously played for Metz, Monaco and Arsenal and was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2008...
, Kolo Toure
Kolo Touré
Kolo Habib Touré is an Ivorian footballer who plays for Manchester City and Ivory Coast. Touré is a central defender. He is the elder brother of Manchester City team-mate Yaya Touré and Makasa's Ibrahim Touré.-Arsenal:...
, Joleon Lescott
Joleon Lescott
Joleon Patrick Lescott is an English footballer who currently plays for Manchester City. He plays as a centre-back, though he has played in various other positions across the defensive line, in particular left-back....
and Sylvinho
Sylvinho
Sylvio Mendes Campos Junior , commonly known as Sylvinho is a retired Brazilian footballer, who played for Corinthians, Arsenal, Celta Vigo, FC Barcelona and Manchester City...
. Cook also built his own team around him with Brian Marwood
Brian Marwood
Brian Marwood is an English former footballer and is currently one of the main executive staff at Manchester City F.C. under the role of Football Administration Officer.-Hull City:...
joining the club.
Alongside Al Mubarak, Cook has seen the complete overhaul of the club's training base at Carrington
Carrington, Greater Manchester
Carrington is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Cheshire, the village is west of Greater Manchester Urban Area, and is the site of a large gas and chemical works, which produce gases by fractional distillation of...
, and scheduled a 2009 summer tour of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
where the squad met Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
.
He made a gaffe by welcoming Uwe Rösler
Uwe Rösler
Uwe Rösler is a German football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Brentford.Rösler was previously a successful player who played for several clubs, most notably Manchester City , where he was the leading goalscorer for three consecutive seasons from 1995–96 to 1997–98, and 1...
to the Manchester United Hall of Fame instead of the Manchester City Hall of Fame, and was booed by Manchester City fans. He wrote apology letters to 70 Manchester City supporters' clubs.
On 19 December 2009, Cook was key in relieving Mark Hughes of his duties as City's manager, after just two wins in twelve games, and appointing former Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped them win the Serie A league title, four Coppa...
as his replacement.
In September 2011, Cook offered his resignation after insensitive email allegations towards a player's mother. The Manchester City board believed there was evidence to back the allegations and accepted his resignation on 9 September 2011. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak
Khaldoon Al Mubarak
H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak is an Emirati businessman.Educated in the United States, he entered a career in construction and real estate, becoming CEO of the Mubadala Development Company...
thanked Cook for his efforts in transforming the club's infrastructure and direction.