Rebecca Cooke (footballer)

Rebecca Cooke
Personal information
Full name Rebecca Ruth Cooke[1]
Date of birth (2002-10-30) 30 October 2002
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position Forward
Team information
Current team
 Brooklyn FC
Number 10
Youth career
2018–2019 Shelbourne
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2022 Quinnipiac Bobcats 44 (39)
2023–2024 Penn State Nittany Lions 40 (6)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2021 Shelbourne 22 (12)
2022 Bohemians 7 (3)
2025 Shelbourne 10 (4)
2025– Brooklyn FC 0 (0)
International career
2018–2019 Republic of Ireland U-17 6 (1)
2019 Republic of Ireland U-19 4 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rebecca Ruth Cooke (born 30 October 2002) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for USL Super League club Brooklyn FC. She played college soccer for the Quinnipiac Bobcats, where she led NCAA Division I in goals in 2022, and the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Early life

Cooke grew up in Portmarnock, north of Dublin, the oldest of four children born to Martin and Sharon Cooke.[2] She began playing football at an early age and was coached by her grandfather, Martin, on boys' teams until she was 12.[3] She graduated from Portmarnock Community School.[3]

College career

Cooke joined the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the spring of 2021.[4] In her brief freshman season (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), she led the team with four goals in seven games and was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Rookie of the Year.[3] She was named first-team All-MAAC after scoring 13 goals in 18 games in the fall of 2021, her first full college season, and led the Bobcats to the MAAC tournament final.[3]

Cooke scored 22 goals in 19 games in her junior season as she led the Bobcats to the MAAC regular-season and tournament titles in 2022, scoring twice in the conference final.[5] This qualified the team for their first NCAA tournament since 2000, losing to Penn State in the first round.[2] Her tally of 22 goals was the most in the NCAA Division I in 2022, and she was named first-team All-MAAC and third-team All-American.[2] She then transferred to Penn State in 2023, where she played two seasons, appearing in 40 games primarily as a substitute and scoring six goals.[6]

Club career

Shelbourne and Bohemians

Cooke joined the first under-17 girls' team at Shelbourne F.C. in 2018, before making her senior debut the next year.[7] She scored 14 goals in 24 first-team appearances over two seasons.[7] Her "wonder goal" against Peamount United in the Women's National League was voted goal of the season for Shelbourne, men or women, in 2019.[8]

When home for the summer during college, Cooke returned to play for Shelbourne in 2021, scoring 2 goals in 1 appearance, and played for Bohemians in 2022, scoring 3 goals in 7 games.[7] After college, she again returned to Shelbourne in 2025, scoring 4 goals in 10 games.[9]

Brooklyn FC

On 21 August 2025, USL Super League club Brooklyn FC announced that the club had signed Cooke before the league's second season.[10] Cooke debuted for the club two days later, coming on as a second-half substitute for Jessica Garziano in Brooklyn's opening-day victory over Tampa Bay Sun FC[11] and going on to make her first start for the team in a 1–1 draw with Spokane Zephyr FC at Maimonides Park on 3 September 2025.[12] She scored the 80th-minute equalizer against DC Power FC in an 18 September league game at Audi Field, after Brooklyn came back from 2–0 down,[13] while her second goal for the club came in the 90th minute of a 4 October game at Maimonides Park versus Sporting JAX only to see the visitors draw the game 3–3 with a 95th-minute equalizer.[14] Cooke's performances throughout October earned her a spot on the USL Super League Team of the Month.[15]

International career

Cooke played for the Republic of Ireland's youth national team in 2019 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification, scoring in a 1–1 draw with Norway,[16] and 2020 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship qualification, though the latter was suspended midway due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] She was first named to the senior squad for their friendly against Belgium in January 2019, although she was unused in the game.[18][19]

Honors and awards

Quinnipiac Bobcats

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Penn State Commencement, Fall Session 2024, Baccalaureate and Associate Degrees" (PDF). Penn State University. p. 20. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Pitch perfect: Rebecca Cooke 'finds a way' to lead Bobcats". Quinnipiac University. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "Rebecca Cooke". Quinnipiac Bobcats. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  4. ^ Byrne, Paul (16 April 2021). "Rebecca Cook-ing up a storm in America". Irish Independent. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  5. ^ "Quinnipiac Downs Niagara in Hamden to Capture 2022 MAAC Title". Quinnipiac Bobcats. 6 November 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Rebecca Cooke". Penn State Nittany Lions. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  7. ^ a b c "Rebecca Cooke". extratime.com. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  8. ^ Fitzpatrick, Sean (28 May 2021). "Checking in with Rebecca Cooke". Shelbourne F.C. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Rebecca Cooke". flashscore.com. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Cooke to bring proven scoring power and global experience to Brooklyn FC ahead of 2025/26 Gainbridge Super League season". Brooklyn FC. 21 August 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Brooklyn FC 2–1 Tampa Bay Sun FC". USL Super League. 23 August 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  12. ^ Zakh (4 September 2025). "Late Equalizer Holds Brooklyn to 1–1 Home Draw". Brooklyn football club.com. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  13. ^ "Brooklyn FC Rallies from two goals down to draw 2-2 with DC Power". Brooklyn FC. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  14. ^ Hawke, Zak (4 October 2025). "Late Drama at Maimonides Park as Brooklyn Draws 3–3 with Sporting JAX". Brooklyn FC. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  15. ^ "Gainbridge Super League Team of the Month – October". GainbridgeSuperLeague.com. USL Super League. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
  16. ^ "Republic of Ireland 1-1 Norway". UEFA. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  17. ^ "Ukraine 0-2 Republic of Ireland". UEFA. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  18. ^ Donnelly, Dave (8 January 2019). "German-born striker Kraft and Cooke get first senior call-ups but Kiernan misses out on Belgium test". extratime.com. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  19. ^ "Ireland suffer narrow defeat to Belgium". RTÉ. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
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