Frederick William "Fred" Cook (born 16 November 1947) is a former Australian rules footballer.
He played 33 games with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1967 until 1969 but it was in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) with Port Melbourne that he made his name. In his brief career with Footscray he played in defence and only kicked two goals but with Port he was one of the league's premier forwards, kicking a VFA record 1364 goals from his 305 games.
Cook's career was full of off-field drama. He was sacked from Footscray for 'disciplinary reasons' and ended up at Yarraville. In 1970, his debut season, he won the J. J. Liston Trophy for the VFA's best and fairest player. Despite his efforts Yarraville were relegated and Cook decided to be transferred to Port Melbourne. During the 1972 pre-season training he suffered a heart attack but managed to return to the field later in the year and even kicked 16 goals in a reserves match.
The 1970s saw Cook played at full forward and dominate the league's goalkicking. He topped the VFA's goalkicking fives times in a prolific period from 1976–1982, at his best in 1977 when he kicked 155 goals in the season. He also played in six premierships with Port Melbourne.
Cook holds the record for most goals kicked in the VFA, and is one of only five players to have scored 1400 or more goals in his career at top-level senior and representative football. During modern VFL grand finals played at Etihad Stadium, the eastern end of the ground (normally called the Coventry End for AFL games) is renamed the Cook End.
Famous quotes containing the words fred, cook and/or born:
“But the Krell forgot one thing.... Monsters, John, monsters from the id.”
—Cyril Hume, and Fred McLeod Wilcox. Lt. “Doc” Ostrow (Warren Stevens)
“‘Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“It was easy to recognize in him the anti-social animus of a born evangelist, but there was also something else—a kind of voluptuous delight in the shabby and preposterous, a perverted aestheticism like that of a latter-day movie or radio fan, a wild will to roll in and snuffle balderdash as a cat rolls in and snuffles catnip.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)