Appointed Manager: October 1990
Resigned: March 1991

First Game: 6.11.90 v Bangor City (Inter League Cup) home W 2-1
Last Game: 23.3.91 v Southport away L 0-4

Games in charge: 25

Won 9
Drawn 3
Lost 13

Verdict: Working in tandem with Kevin Gorman the duo showed much promise in their brief spell but Cooke rocked the club with his sudden resignation, but it was with his players that his successor Les Sutton won the Manchester Premier Cup.

John Cooke's playing career took him to Manchester United, Altrincham, Goole Town and Wigan Athletic. He stepped into management with Droylsden in 1977. He later had spells as assistant manager (to Brian Kidd) at Barrow, Stalybridge Celtic and Altrincham and was the reserve team boss with Preston North End. Cooke was appointed manager of Mossley on 26th November 1990 and had a quite impressive spell in charge. Assisted by Kevin Gorman, the future looked rosy. It came as a great shock to everyone when Cooke suddenly resigned following a second successive defeat on 23rd March 1991 citing business commitments as the reason for his departure. Mossley then offered the job to Gorman again but he reluctantly turned it down again due to business commitments. Kevin Gorman was born in Manchester on 26th October 1953. His early playing career saw him play for Bacup Borough, Horwich RMI, Barrow and Droylsden before signing for Mossley in January 1979 for a £500 fee. A gritty but skilful midfield general Gorman quickly established himself in the team and was a mainstay of the all conquering side of the late 1970's and early 1980's under Bob Murphy. He made a total of 247 appearances for Mossley scoring 32 goals before moving to play for Southport in December 1983 following Bob Murphy's resignation. Spells with Hyde United, Buxton, Chadderton and Stalybridge Celtic followed before he returned to Mossley in the twilight of his career in December 1989 under Mark Hilton. Following Hilton's departure he was made Caretaker-Manager but his work was to prevent him from taking the job permanently, though it was offered to him. When Gorman was put in temporary charge he brought in John Cooke to help him and it was Cooke who was to become Manager with Gorman agreeing to stay and assist as Player-Coach. In his second spell as a Mossley player Kevin Gorman made a further 51 appearances scoring 5 goals.
John Cooke later became a youth coach with Manchester United.