Cochrane Sandy Image 2 Chesterfield 1931

Description

Glasgow born inside forward Sandy Cochrane played for Shawfield Juniors in 1920 before joining Alloa Athletic in 1921, winning the Second Division Championship with The Wasps in 1921-22, and while with Alloa he established a reputation as a goalscorer. He joined First Division Middlesbrough in February 1923 for what was reported as a four figure fee, making his Football League debut against Arsenal in March 1923, scoring in a 2-0 victory.

He scored 4 goals as ‘Boro were relegated the following season, despite their relegation he continued to play for them until he joined Darlington in July 1926 after 8 goals in 68 appearances. He played three seasons at Feethams but couldn’t prevent Darlington’s relegation from the Second Division in 1926-27 despite 8 goals, scoring 25 goals in 109 matches for The Quakers before joining Bradford City in January 1929. He scored 9 goals in 16 appearances as The Bantams won the Third Division (North) Championship in 1928-29 top scoring the following season in the Second Division with 22 goals, before joining Second Division club Chesterfield in May 1931 after 31 goals in 74 appearances for The Bantams.

A single season stay at Saltergate saw one goal in 27 appearances for The Spireites until he joined Welsh League Llanelly in 1932, before a return to Football League action with Northampton Town in June 1934, for whom he scored 8 goals in 52 matches over the next two seasons. He joined Swindon Town in May 1935 scoring once in 15 appearances before returning north of the border to join Partick Thistle later in February 1936.

He moved to East Stirlingshire later in 1936 and was retained for the 1937-38 season, but by November the club was in deep financial trouble. Cochrane was one of several players released after refusing the club’s proposal that they accept a proportion of the gate money in lieu of salary. Within days, he joined divisional rivals Dumbarton, where he finished the season, scoring once (against former club East Stirlingshire in a 3-1 victory in January 1938) in 15 appearances for The Sons before leaving the club in the 1938 close season. He finished his career after World War Two with non league Rothwell Town in 1948 and Brigstock in 1949, by now in his late 40’s.