It hardly seems possible that we’ve lost them both now, so close together. When players move on they somehow remain frozen in our mind the age they were - in Robbie’s case, what, early 30s? We knew next to nothing of his subsequent life as a chief scout, working with Moyes at Man United and West Ham. In our memories he was always the lethal and spiky cutting edge of the early Morris years. He came, he scored, he got a yellow for dissent.
To a generation of Poppies fans Robbie was a hero – occasionally flawed - whose goals propelled us to the Fourth Round via an unforgettable afternoon in front of the MOTD cameras. We were fortunate to have three seasons of a still deadly Robbie at the tail end of his career, and though I never saw Roy Clayton in his pomp, it’s hard to imagine that we have ever had a better finisher. Rest in peace Robbie, and please no more news like this for a very long time.
I did I Dream this or was there a bit of graffiti scrawled on the walls of Rockingham Road in the late 80s that said "Robbie Cooke is God"?
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