Garry Cook Resigns

So the inevitable happened today in Manchester: CEO Garry Cook resigned.

Following the leaked emails from Garry Cook to Dr. Anthonia Onouha, the City Board led an investigation which concluded that the Dr. Onouhas allegations had a foundation.

The statement by Manchester City (www.mcfc.co.uk) indicated that after the findings of the review, Manchester City's Chief Executive Officer, Garry Cook, had tendered his resignation, which was accepted with regret by the Board.

It then went on to have quotes from both the Chairman, and Garry Cook himself, which were all pretty standard. The Chairman thanked the Chief Executive for his work, and the Chief Executive thanked the Chairman for the opportunity.

Personally, I do not think this will be the end of the Cook/Mubarak affair. I suspect that Cook will jet off to Abu Dhabi and have another role somewhere else.

It is a shame, however, that one email—whether hacked or sent incorrectly—was the downfall of such a great person at City. The former Nike employee was big in sports even before his move to City, having worked his way up to head the 'Brand Jordan' project. He worked at Nike from 1996 to 2008 before being hired on by former City Chairman, Shinawatra.



Garry Cook secured the signings of some quality players with the likes of SWP, Given and DeJong, but also some doozies in Jo, Bridge and Ben Haim. Cook also handled the transfer of Robinho to City for 32.5m, and an audacious bid for Kaka, which ultimately broke down.

Mr. Cook also did a lot of work for City away from the pitch. He got the supporters more involved by introducing the "My first City game" campaign where supporters of the club, famous and regular, wrote in their memories of their first ever City game. He was also instrumental in the complete overhaul of the club's training base at Carrington, and scheduled a meeting with icon Nelson Mandela while on their South African tour in 2009.

He hasn't been perfect though. He made an error when welcoming City legend Uwe Rosler to the Manchester United Hall of Fame rather than the City one. This was obviously not the smartest move in front of a City audience. However, he did make amends by writing apology letters to 70 Manchester City Supporters' Clubs.

So since his arrival in 2008 to his resignation today, City have witnessed the complete overhaul of the foundation of the club. In many years from now, we will look back and recognise Cook as a key part of our new beginning.

I will not wait that long to thank him though

So today I would like to thank Garry Cook for everything he has done for City, and I wish him all the best in the future.