Rebecca Cooke (footballer)
Irish footballer (born 2002)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
|
Cooke with Brooklyn FC in 2026 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rebecca Ruth Cooke[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 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 | 26 | (9) |
| 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 as of 20:12, 17 May 2026 (UTC) | |||
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]
Career statistics
- As of match played 12 April 2026
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Playoffs | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Shelbourne | 2019 | National League | — | |||||||
| 2020 | National League | — | ||||||||
| 2021 | National League | — | ||||||||
| 2025 | Premier Division | — | ||||||||
| Total | 32 | 16 | ||||||||
| Bohemians | 2022 | National League | — | 7 | 3 | |||||
| Brooklyn F.C. | 2025–26 | USL Super League | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 9 | |
| Career total | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 28 | ||
Honors and awards
Quinnipiac Bobcats
Individual
- USL Super League All-League Second Team: 2025–26[20]
- Third-team All-American: 2022
- First-team All-MAAC: 2021, 2022
- NCAA Division I goals leader: 2022
