Ian Crook

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Ian Crook
Personal information
Full name Ian Stuart Crook[1]
Date of birth (1963-01-18) 18 January 1963 (age 61)[1]
Place of birth Romford,[1] England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1976–1980 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1986 Tottenham Hotspur 39 (1)
1986–1997 Norwich City 418 (24)
1997–1998 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 24 (4)
1998–2000
Northern Spirit
 34 (6)
Total 515 (35)
International career
1987
England B
 1 (0)
Managerial career
2001–2004
Newcastle Jets
2004 American Samoa
2010–2012
NSWIS
2012 Sydney FC
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ian Stuart Crook (born 18 January 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player.

As a player, he was a

England B
international.

After his playing career Crook went into coaching, mostly in Australia, with

Western Sydney Wanderers football club as Assistant Manager. In 2004 he also had a spell as national team manager of American Samoa
.

Club career

Crook began his football career at

UEFA Cup Medal in 1984 as an unused substitute for the final, in which Tottenham beat R.S.C. Anderlecht on penalties. He appeared in the semifinal against Hajduk.[3]

In 1986 Crook moved to Norwich City for a fee of £80,000, which would prove to be one of the best bargain buys for the club. He was at the hub of the most successful team in Norwich's history. During his eleven seasons at the club, he helped them to three top five finishes in England's

UEFA Cup run in the 1993–94 season, though he missed the match in which Norwich were eliminated from the competition – against Inter Milan in the San Siro – through suspension after collecting two yellow cards in the tournament. He was a midfielder noted for his passing ability and accuracy from set-pieces. Many experts in the game believe that had Crook played for a so-called bigger club, he would have played for the full England team. In a 2001 poll for Four Four Two magazine, Crook was voted as one of the best players never to have played for England, along with his former Norwich team-mate Steve Bruce
.

He was still with Norwich when they were relegated from the Premier League in 1995, ending the nine-year run of top division football which had started in the year that Crook joined them.

He famously agreed to leave Norwich to join their fierce rivals Ipswich Town at the end of the 1995–96 season, even posing for photos with his new shirt and buying his children replica kits before changing his mind and re-signing for City days later. This was due to former Norwich manager Mike Walker taking over the helm at Carrow Road following the sacking of Gary Megson and him persuading Crook to change his mind about the transfer. Crook had played under Walker for Norwich during his first spell as manager from 1992 to January 1994. Ipswich Town took it to court, with the local newspaper Evening Star carrying the headline "Get out of Town Crook and take that man Walker with you".

In 1997, he was signed by

Northern Spirit FC
, where he stayed until retiring as a player in 2000.

In 2002, Norwich fans voted Crook into the Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame. In September of the same year he played at Carrow Road in the club's centenary match against Harwich & Parkeston F.C. Crook remained a favourite with Norwich City supporters, and in 2008 he was voted in the Greatest Ever Norwich City eleven.[4]

Managerial career

After leaving Japan, Crook played for and coached

Sydney F.C. the following November, under manager Pierre Littbarski
, winning the A-League title and attending the World Club Championships in 2005. After the 04–05 season Littbarski left the club following a contract dispute, and Crook remained at the club for another six months.

During his work in Australia, he was often linked with a possible return to Norwich, notably in the

Steve Foley. Following the departure of Peter Grant from Norwich City in October 2007, Crook was again linked with the vacant manager's position.[5]

In January 2007 Crook accepted the assistant manager's role at Japanese second division side

Newcastle Jets.[6]
On 21 January 2009 Crook was unveiled as first team coach for Norwich City alongside new manager and former teammate
Sydney Olympic Football Club.[7]
Ian left Sydney Olympic in 2010 to take up the position of Head Coach at the New South Wales Institute of Sport.

He returned to

Vitezslav Lavicka at the end of the 2011/2012 season, Crook was appointed manager of Sydney FC on 14 May 2012.[9]

On only 11 November of the same year, Crook announced his immediate resignation as head coach of Sydney FC, following a 3–2 defeat to

archrivals, Melbourne Victory. This was on the back of a humiliating 7–2 loss to the Central Coast Mariners the previous week. He was temporarily replaced by assistant coach Steve Corica in a caretaker role, and then permanently by Frank Farina
on 28 November.

On 12 June 2014, Western Sydney Wanderers appointment Crook as assistant coach.[10] Crook served as assistant during the club's successful 2014 AFC Champions League campaign. On 25 February 2015, Crook took the helm of the team due to Tony Popovic serving his first of a two-game suspension. The away match against Kashima Antlers of Japan ended 1–3 in favour to Wanderers.[11]

Personal life

Crook made a lasting impression at Norwich. Notably, he was elected to be a member of the club's Hall of Fame.

Club statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Japan League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Total
1997 Sanfrecce Hiroshima J1 League 15 3 0 0 0 0 15 3
1998 9 1 0 0 0 0 9 1
Total 24 4 0 0 0 0 24 4

Managerial statistics

As of 25 January 2013
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Sydney FC Australia 14 May 2012 28 November 2012 6 2 0 4 033.33
Total 6 2 0 4 033.33

References

  1. ^ a b c "Ian Crook". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  2. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5
    .
  3. ^ "Hajduk v Tottenham game report". UEFA. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  4. ^ Norwich City profile
  5. ^ City legend moves up the betting stakes Archived 10 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Jets Swoop to Land Crook". AU FourFourTwo. 23 October 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  7. ^ Ian Crook Director of Coaching of Sydney Olympic Football Club Archived 28 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Sydney FC building nicely". Sydney FC. 21 July 2011. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  9. ^ "Crook to be named new Sydney FC coach". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 May 2012.
  10. ^ "Ian Crook Signs on with Wanderers". footballaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  11. ^ "Wanderers rebound with big win in Japan". The Australian. Retrieved 25 February 2015.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Norwich City Captain
1996-1997 		Succeeded by
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