Matthew Cornock

Matthew Cornock (23 June 1890 – 1961), also commonly known as Matt Cornock, was a Scottish footballer who played in the Scottish Football League for Stenhousemuir, Albion Rovers, Forfar Athletic and Queen of the South and in the English Football League for Barnsley. A centre forward or inside forward, Cornock also played non-league football in England and Junior football in Scotland.

Matthew Cornock
Personal information
Full name Matthew Cornock[1]
Date of birth (1890-06-23)23 June 1890[2]
Place of birth Chapelhall, Scotland
Date of death 1961 (aged 70–71)[1]
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2]
Position(s) Centre forward, inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1909–1910 Airdrieonians 0 (0)
1910–1911 Darlington (6)
1911–1912 Barnsley 12 (5)
1912–19?? Castleford Town
1919–19?? Bellshill Athletic
19??–1921 Plean Juniors
1921–1924 Stenhousemuir 73 (30)
1924 Albion Rovers 9 (5)
1924–1925 Forfar Athletic 7 (3)
1925–192? Queen of the South 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life and career

Cornock was born in Chapelhall, near Airdrie in Lanarkshire.[2] He played football for a local club[lower-alpha 1] and then joined Division One club Airdrieonians in May 1909. At the end of his first season with the club, during which he failed to play a competitive first-team match, he was listed as open to transfer.[3] After making an appearance for Airdrieonians in a benefit match in September 1910,[4] Cornock moved into English non-league football three weeks later.[5]

Football in England

He signed for North-Eastern League club Darlington. The transfer was not completed in time for him to play in the first qualifying round of the 1910–11 FA Cup, in which Darlington won 1–0 away at Hartlepools United,[5] but was a regular at centre forward as they progressed through five more qualifying rounds. They eliminated First Division Sheffield United to reach the second round proper,[6] and Cornock scored the winning goal against Second Division club Bradford to take his team into the last 16,[7] an achievement which remains the club's joint best performance in the competition.[8] A profile in the Athletic News ahead of that match described him as "strong and bustling" with a forceful shot.[9] Darlington were eventually eliminated by Swindon Town, who were to finish the season as Southern League champions.[6][10] Cornock played regularly throughout the season, and scored six times in North-Eastern League competition.[6]

He joined Second Division club Barnsley in May 1911 for a £25 fee,[2][11] and performed well in pre-season.[12] After their opening two fixtures brought criticism of the forwards,[13] Barnsley omitted George Travers for the visit to Birmingham, moved George Lillycrop across to inside right, and gave Cornock his Football League debut at centre forward. Having justified his selection with two goals in a 3–1 win, he kept his place for five of the next six matches, and scored three more goals, but after two further appearances without scoring, Travers returned to the side and remained in it.[14] Cornock was included in the 13-man training squad that prepared for FA Cup matches as Barnsley went on to win the competition,[15][16] but did not make the team, although he did make a further six appearances in league competition.[14][16] Barnsley chose not to retain Cornock's services, and he moved on to Midland League club Castleford Town.[17]

Return to Scotland

By 1919, he had returned to Scotland and was playing for Bellshill Athletic. He "did not exactly shine" on his debut in September,[18] and by January 1921 had moved on to Plean Juniors, where he created a better impression. He appeared in junior international trial matches, playing for the Rest of Scotland against Fifeshire in January and for a national Junior Select against Midlothian in March,[19] and at the end of the 1920–21 season, was selected for the Scottish Junior international tour of Norway.[20]

In March, Cornock was reported to have "no intention of accepting the senior ticket",[21] but in the close season, he did so, signing for Stenhousemuir, who were making their Scottish League debut in the first post-war Division Two season.[3] He played in something more than half the league matches, and scored at a rate of a goal every other game, but in his third season, in which he played mainly at inside left rather than his customary centre-forward role, he lost form, produced only 8 goals from 28 appearances, and was not offered a new contract.[3][22] The Falkirk Herald suggested that he might have been trying too hard: "a wholehearted player was Cornock, and oftener than not over-anxiety was his undoing."[22]

He signed for Albion Rovers, also of Division Two, for the 1924–25 season, but was not there long. After playing just nine matches and scoring five goals,[3] three of which came against his former club Stenhousemuir,[23] Cornock signed for another Division Two club, Forfar Athletic,[3] against whom he had scored four times in the first twenty minutes of a match two years previously while playing for Stenhousemuir.[24] He scored a hat-trick on his debut, in a 3–1 home defeat of Dumbarton on 28 December, but after playing in the next seven fixtures without scoring, he was not persevered with.[25] He joined Queen of the South for 1925–26, but soon lost his place to the returning Willie McCall, and made only two appearances.[3][26]

Cornock died in 1961.[2]

Notes
  1. The English National Football Archive gives Douglas Park,[1] while John Litster's Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players has Douglas Water.[3]

References
  1. Matthew Cornock at the English National Football Archive (subscription required). Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  2. Firth, Grenville & Wood, David (2011). The Who's Who of Barnsley FC. Derby: DB Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-1859838426.
  3. Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
  4. "Falkirk defeat Airdrie by four clear goals". The Courier. Dundee. 14 September 1910. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Football. The English Cup. Hartlepools United v. Darlington". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 6 October 1910. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive. Cornock, of the Airdrieonians, was unable to turn out, because the forms of transfer were too late in being received by Mr Wall, the secretary of the League.
  6. Tweddle, Frank (2000). The Definitive Darlington F.C. Nottingham: SoccerData. pp. 15, 19. ISBN 978-1-899468-15-7.
  7. "Darlington v. Bradford. Home team's splendid recovery". Yorkshire Post. 6 February 1911. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive. The goal which gave Darlington the victory came a quarter hour from the finish. It followed upon a rush by Denham, whose pass forward ought have been intercepted by either Little or Hayes. Both, however, failed to save the situation, and Cornock, who fastened on to the ball, steered it carefully past Mason, who ran out to meet him, and banged it into the net.
  8. "Club Honours and Records". Darlington F.C. 7 July 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  9. "Who are 'The Quakers'?". Athletic News. Manchester. 6 February 1911. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Swindon Town". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  11. "Darlington player for Barnsley". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 3 May 1911. p. 13 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "A Barnsley kick-about". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 21 August 1911. p. 12 – via British Newspaper Archive. Of the new men signed recently, Taylor, Hanlon, and Cornock were the most prominent.
  13. "Barnsley outclass Blackpool". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 11 September 1911. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive. The Oakwell men were clearly the stronger lot, and almost continuously kept the pressure on their opponents, but there was always some strange weakness in front of goal. ... Unfortunately, good shooting was at a premium. Lillycrop was always uncertain, Tufnell showed bad judgment and Travers was slow.
  14. Metcalf, Mark & Wood, David (2010). Lifting the Cup: The Story of Battling Barnsley, 1910–12. Barnsley: Wharncliffe Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-84563-1-369.
  15. "By the silver sea. The best trained team in England". Yorkshire Telegraph & Star. 6 March 1912. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive. Hanlon and Cornock are the reserves in training, but it is unlikely that a call will have to be made on them.
  16. "For the third meeting. Barnsley again getting ready at Lytham". Yorkshire Telegraph & Star. 15 March 1912. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive. Accompanying the team were Hanlon, Cornock, and Hall. The last-named is reserve back, while Hanlon will deputise for Bratley, and Cornock displace Tufnell in the team for the match with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
  17. Athleo (22 August 1912). "Looking ahead. Football prospects of Second Division clubs". Yorkshire Telegraph & Star. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. "Notelets". Bellshill Speaker. 19 September 1919. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. "Dundee Juniors play for 'national trial". The Courier. Dundee. 31 January 1921. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Junior Select". Sunday Post. Glasgow. 27 March 1921. p. 15 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. "Football. Scottish Junior international team for Norway". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 11 May 1921. p. 12.
  21. "About clubs and players". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. 2 March 1921. p. 11 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. "In pastures new". Falkirk Herald. 9 August 1924. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive. The latter, somehow or other, went off form during last season, and was not asked to sign. ... A wholehearted player was Cornock, and oftener than not over-anxiety was his undoing.
  23. "Warriors lead and lose heavily at Coatbridge". Falkirk Herald. 12 November 1924. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. "Four goals for Stenhousemuir centre". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 13 November 1922. p. 4.
  25. "Forfar Athletic: Cornock, Matthew". fitbastats.com. Bobby Sinnet & Thomas Jamieson. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  26. "Dundee United's new winger. Cowdenbeath team not yet chosen". The Courier. Dundee. 4 September 1925. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive. W. M'Call, of Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, has returned to Queen of the South, and will be included in the team to face Stenhousemuir at Palmerston. Before going south he filled the outside left berth, but now he will displace Cornock.
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