He's the Grafter

IF Andy Cooke has a bugbear in life then it's wasted talent.

Six years ago, the Clarets striker used to spend his days building cowsheds for a living.

The pay was a pittance, the hours were torturing, and the work was exhausting.

Then -- if he had an ounce of energy left -- he would slope off to training in the evenings with Welsh League outfit Newtown.

His incentive for hauling himself out of bed at 7 o'clock every morning was his dream of becoming a professional footballer one day.

Now he has fulfilled that, it churns his stomach to see players -- usually more naturally gifted than himself -- tossing it all away because they don't have the appetite for honest graft.

"I have come across players -- I'll never name names -- who I don't think appreciate just what they have got," said Cooke, reclining in his sumptuously appointed new house.

"And I'm not just talking about established players who find themselves in and out of the team.

"I'm also talking about young players who just don't want it enough.

"I've seen young lads who have had the ability and then have thrown it all away.

"Now, they are probably working in a factory somewhere and it's such a waste.

"Every job has it's bad side but I don't think you can get a better job than being a footballer.

"And I don't think some realise just how far you can get from hard work."

Cooke is a living testimony to such a sentiment. By his own admittance, it's his willingness to perspire rather than inspire which has always been his strength.

And despite his humble beginnings, having joined Burnley as a virtual unknown direct from the League of Wales, he has managed to make something of his life.

Last summer, the 26-year-old moved into a plush, converted barn on the outskirts of Blackburn. Tastefully decorated, it contains all the trappings you would expect to be associated with a successful professional footballer.

Cooke's most prized possessions, however, are the two match balls he received after scoring hat-tricks for Burnley which he displays in a glass cabinet in the corner of his front room.

And it's abundantly clear that, although he enjoys a lavish lifestyle, he has not lost his perspective on what is important in life.

"When I moved house last summer some of my stuff got stolen whilst it was being kept in storage," said Cooke.

"I lost my TV, a microwave and a few other valuable items but what upset me most was the five bottles of champagne I lost for being named man of the match.

"You just can't replace stuff like that and they meant such a lot to me."

Though Cooke's trophies proudly adorn his home, he is, essentially, a private character.

His house -- purposely -- is difficult to find, hidden away from the glare of the public.

I had directions and it still took me three goes to find it!

"I used to live on a new estate in Great Harwood, which was perfect for when I first came here, but people started knocking on my door asking for this and that so I just wanted to get out of the way," said Cooke.

"Back home, I used to live out in the middle of nowhere so I wanted to find somewhere similar around here.

"When I first came down here it was just a shell -- there was nothing inside it at all. "It's been hard work but I've been very lucky to find somewhere like this, especially after starting with nothing."

Cooke -- who sports a tattoo of a Red Indian on his fore arm due to his love for the American football team The Washington Redskins -- was brought up on his family's working farm in Market Drayton as a kid and harboured dreams of becoming a professional footballer from an early age.

In his teens, he signed apprentice forms with Shrewsbury Town before moving into the Nationwide Conference with Telford United, where he spent a further three years.

But it was his stint in the League of Wales with Newtown which really saw his career take off.

In one and a half seasons there he began to forge a reputation as a prolific goalscorer.

The money was not particularly good, though, which forced him into taking a job as an agricultural labourer -- a post which taught him the true value of things.

"It wasn't the best of work, really, but the days were starting to get a bit long so I thought I had better do something.

"I was putting up steel erecting and buildings for cows and doing a bit of concreting here and there.

"It was hard work and boring as Hell."

Draining though it was, his job did not distract him from the business of scoring goals and a few clubs began to show an interest before Jimmy Mullen finally took the plunge and brought him to Turf Moor in 1995. It was the move he had always wanted although suddenly finding himself among established professionals was a daunting prospect at first.

"Coming from where I did to joining Burnley was a big step for me.

"When you see the likes of Ted McMinn, Adrian Heath, Jamie Hoyland and Alan Harper -- who were all experienced pros -- it just seemed weird going into training at times.

"It did play on my mind a bit to begin with.

"I think one of my first games was against Sheffield Wednesday in a pre-season friendly and some of the players I played against that day I had watched on TV the week before.

"But it was brilliant, really, even if I sometimes needed to take a step back to take it all in." Since making his Clarets debut, Cooke has averaged roughly a goal every three games.

This season, however, has not been one of his more prolific although he believes he has added an extra dimension to his game.

"I've been a bit disappointed by the lack of goals I've scored.

"No-one wants to go through a season without really scoring.

"But I think, overall, my all-round game is so much better now compared to before.

"And if I'm not scoring then I feel I'm always putting something back into the side. "At the end of the day, though, the only person you need to impress is the manager.

"And he's picked me in every game I have been fit to play this season so he must think I'm doing something right.

"But I've got to work a lot harder for my goals whereas they seem to come naturally to the likes of Payts and Wrighty."

Cooke remains, however, the man for the big occasion.

It was his two goals on the final day of the season in a relegation showdown with Plymouth two seasons ago which ensured Burnley avoided relegation to Division Three.

This season, he scored the winner in the FA Cup at Derby.

It seems the higher the stakes, the better he becomes.

And Cooke tries to take his mind off the pressures of the big occasion by going fly-fishing, although as if slightly embarrassed, he stresses 'occasionally'.

"It's just something I used to do as a kid.

"When I was younger we used to live in this house which had a river across the way.

"So every day I used to go down there with my friends.

"The lads take the Mickey a bit but it's a good way to relax."

None of his team-mates will take the Mick if a couple of Cooke goals land Burnley a place in Division One.