Football

Unsung heroes of North Wales football: Jon Fisher-Cooke

Jon Fisher-Cooke (right) re-signs for Prestatyn Town in 2015. Pictured centre is manager Neil Gibson and team-mate Tom Kemp (left)

Unsung heroes are around in every football era.
Former Rhyl and Prestatyn Town striker Jon Fisher-Cooke could be classed under that category.

JFC, as he is popularly known, was a quick, sharp natural goal scorer who found the net regularly at every level he played.

Unfortunately, injuries sometimes held him back and perhaps prevented him doing even better in his career.

One thing which proved a constant feature of JFC’s footballing days was his uncanny ability to record landmark feats.

On September 4, 1999, he netted both of Rhyl’s goals in a 2-0 win over Flexsys Cefn Druids in the Lilywhites’ centenary match at Belle Vue.

That was in the Welsh Premier, then near the end of Prestatyn’s invincibles season of 2005-06, super sub JFC bagged the goals which secured Town the Welsh Alliance title with a 2-0 victory against Rhydymwyn at Bastion Gardens.

Jon Fisher-Cooke was in the Prestatyn team which won the Cymru Alliance in 2007-08

When the Seasiders clinched the Cymru Alliance championship in 2007-08, Fisher-Cooke was again on the mark in their title-sealing 3-2 triumph at Llanfairpwll.

And in Prestatyn’s first-ever season in the Welsh Premier, JFC became the first player to net a top-flight hat-trick for the club in a 5-2 home whipping of Porthmadog.

Born on May 13, 1982, JFC was part of Rhyl’s first team squad in the League of Wales in 1999-2000 and 2000-01 before joining Cefn Druids in 2001-02.

He returned to Rhyl in 2002-03. In 21 WPL appearances for the Lilywhites, he scored five goals.

Next for JFC was the start of an exciting adventure at Prestatyn Town, who were about to enter a golden period.

In 2005-06, he was a crucial part of the Welsh Alliance title-winning heroes who went all 30 league matches unbeaten.

Then two years later, he proved a key man in Prestatyn’s Cymru Alliance championship joy, reaching double figures in the goal stakes.

That meant a return to the Welsh Premier League, where again at times his goal-getting ability emerged.

Later seasons were less productive for the striker with injuries playing an all too prominent part, but he can be proud of the fact he represented Prestatyn Town in the top three tiers, as well as turning out in the Welsh Premier for Rhyl and Cefn Druids.

Colwyn Bay and Denbigh Town were among his other clubs.