Mark Crook
English footballer
Mark Stanley Crook (29 June 1903, 1977) was an English professional footballer. An outside right, he played in the Football League for Blackpool, Swindon Town, Wolves and Luton Town.
After his playing career, Mark set up a pioneering feeder team for Wolves in his native South Yorkshire. It proved to be extremely successful with Crook helping to identify 114 professional footballers. Crook took many players on trial for his Northern Intermediate League team prior to them signing for Wolves.
Among his best finds were Roy Swinbourne, Ron Flowers, Steve Daley, Cyril Knowles, Peter Knowles, Bob Hatton, Gerry Taylor, Alan Sunderland, Terry Cooper and Martin Patching.
A blue plaque to celebrate his achievements was added to Cortonwood Miners’ Welfare in May 2025 and a book, Feeding The Wolves, detailing his full career was released later that year.
Sources and credits
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