John Cooke testimonial: Sunderland heroes Peter Reid, Niall Quinn, Kevin Phillips and Ally McCoist star in fitting tribute

The way Sunderland handled Cooke’s redundancy was a disgrace but this afternoon, Mariners Park was brimming with respect for a man who devoted so much of his life to the club.

Cooke – a hugely popular figure in Sunderland’s dressing room – spent a total of 35 years on Wearside between playing and non-playing duties and emotionally addressed the crowd before the game

The event produced a full house with ground packed full of North Easterners playing tribute Cooke. The red and white of Sunderland and the black and white of Newcastle mixed and intermingled.

It takes a special man to bring Wearside and Tyneside together where football is concerned.

Niall Quinn, Kevin Phillips and Peter Reid are just three bonafide Sunderland legends with commitments and busy personal lives. Yet they turned up for Cooke at Mariners Park.

Everybody you speak to holds him in the highest regard. Quinn told us that he was more than a kitman during some of his darker days at the club.

Former Sunderland boss Jack Ross was also back in the North East. He was glowing in his admiration towards his one-time colleague before playing right-back for the Sunderland XI.

1973 FA Cup winner Micky Horswill stood alongside former world heavyweight champion Frank Bruno to applaud Cooke onto the pitch.

Bruno even took it upon himself to award a penalty to the South Shields XI, which was duly dispatched by Cooke himself for the opener to raucous applause in the first half. It was a lovely moment and slightly surreal to watch.

Grant Leadbitter turned out for the day despite acknowledging before the game his knee was done. He knew he would have to be subbed off after a couple of minutes but wanted to play regardless.

Quinn and Phillips came up against a centre-back pairing of Gary Bennett and Wes Brown, himself a former England international and Champions League winner.

Kevin Ball. Alex Rae. Stephen Elliott. Martin Smith. Allan Johnston. Ally McCoist and his son. Kevin Kyle. Micky Gray. Blair Adams. Jody Craddock. They all turned up amongst other notable names.

The sun shone. Fans ate, drank, laughed and clapped their former heroes and other icons of the game. It was a lovely atmosphere.

It was important that this day took place too.

Cast your minds back to March 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic. Kyle Lafferty has just notched his second goal to put Sunderland ahead against Gillingham at the Stadium of Light

The Northern Ireland man sprinted to the bench towards Cooke in support of him following the sad passing of his father.

That was how much he meant to Sunderland’s dressing room and Lafferty’s star on Wearside was only brief.

If you look at old photos, you will see Cooke consoling Micky Gray after his penalty miss against Charlton at the old Wembley in 1998.

He performed the same role for Leadbitter 21 years later at the new Wembley - against the Addicks once more.

Cookie was undeniably more than a kitman that much is clear. He was part of the furniture. He was a friend and an important member of the team. He was loved and now missed by Sunderland’s players. Something everyone on the day was at pains to stress during every conversation.

Inexplicable, then, it was for Sunderland – then owned in full by Stewart Donald, Charlie Methven and Juan Sartori but operating under the leadership of CEO Jim Rodwell – to axe Cooke without so much as a thank you during the pandemic.

Not one word appeared on the club’s website. 31 years spent and no public display of gratitude. That, amongst a great many other things, has left a bitter taste towards the club’s then-decision-makers among supporters. One that still lingers to this day.

That was no way to treat an ex-player who had a promotion with the club on his CV, never mind a staff member who had dedicated his working life to the club.

His son, Jay Turner-Cooke, was so disgusted at his father’s treatment that he departed Sunderland’s academy to join the set-up at rivals Newcastle United.

Today, he graced the pitch alongside his dad, internationals and household names to give thinks to Cooke for his services to football.

Stephen Elliott levelled the scores to make it Sunderland XI 1-1 South Shields XI heading into the interval as the sun shone and Bobby Saxton paced up and down the touchline.

Men played against women in the second half as four South Shields Ladies players – Megan Archbold, Sophie White, Caitin Bates and Katie Pierce – took to the field.

ITV presenter Simon O’Rourke got a game too. “He’ll dine out on that for years,” his friend and commentator for the day Nick Barnes joked. Quinny left the field seconds later to much adulation from the crowd.

Peter Reid even made a surprise cameo, dashing down the tunnel to get his strip on whilst exclaiming that his side were lacking bite in the middle.

At 65-years-old the former England international and Sunderland gaffer – who played against the likes of Diego Maradona in his day – displayed a remarkable turn of pace in the middle of the park

The game finished 2-2 and went to a sudden-death penalty shoot-out with Micky Gray winning it for Sunderland. Redemption at last for that miss in 1998. Fitting.

Today, though, was about so much more than the 90 minutes on the pitch. It was a celebration of the most unsung of Sunderland heroes.