Giles Coke

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Giles Coke (born in 1986 in London) is an English footballer who plays for League One side, Northampton Town. Coke is regarded as one of the most talented creative midfielders in the lower leagues. An attacking central midfielder, he is a joy to watch with his accurate passing ability. Not afraid to tackle, he is double-footed with an impressive long range shot.

At the age of 16, Coke began his football career at Queens Park Rangers' in the youth team set up, where he swiftly moved into the Reserve team. However, he was not offered a professional contract at QPR, and was released. He moved to non-league side Kingstonian (where his brother Jon Coke still plays). Here he was able to gain valuable experience and his football developed well. In the spring of 2005, Coke was spotted by Mansfield, and signed his first professional contract within weeks of being at the Nottinghamshire club for an undisclosed transfer fee after impressing Carlton Palmer (Mansfield's manager at the time). He made his debut in league football on March 19 2005 starting in a high scoring game against Bristol Rovers.

Coke soon became a regular in Mansfield's starting lineup, and has become known for scoring in important games. He scored the only goal of the game when the Stags knocked Southampton out of the League Cup in September 2005, and also scored in the FA Cup match against Rotherham United that the Stags eventually won 4-3. More recently he gave a dominant display during the narrow FA Cup defeat at Newcastle.

His name was linked with several Championship clubs, including Southampton, Reading, Norwich Watford and Wolves. However, Coke decided to remain at Mansfield for a further year signing a new one-year deal with Mansfield in the summer of 2006. He signed for Northampton Town on July 2 2007 on a 2-year contract.

Although born and bred in London, England, Giles has both Ghanaian and English ancestry allowing him to represent either nation at international level.

A Football League tribunal on 24th September 2007 ruled that Northampton must pay Mansfield a maximum fee of £70,00 (depending on appearances)for the transfer, as well as a sell on clause of 20%. This represents a good deal for Northampton, as Mansfield were after a fee of £175,000 plus the sell on clause, according to Northampton Town.

External links

• Giles Coke career stats at Soccerbase

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