Funeral of 1960s footballing ace Les
The funeral has been held of a former Wolves and Wellington Town footballer who was part of a renowned half back line for the Shropshire club in the 1960s.
Les Cocker signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers at the age of 15 in 1955 when the club was flying high in the old First Division.
He went on to win the Youth Challenge Cup in 1958 by beating a Chelsea team that included Jimmy Greaves.
Mr Cocker also played for the England Youth Team before joining Wellington Town - of which the modern AFC Telford United is a spiritual successor - from Wolves in the 1960 to 1961 season.
He was a key player, turning out over 200 times for the Town, mostly at wing half, forming a half back line with John Timmins and Jimmy Kerr.
Kerr went on to manage South African side Arcadia United, with Cocker joining him in Pretoria in February 1966, shortly after breaking his collar bone in the final minute of a game at Lockheed.
Switching to inside left, he rattled in 21 goals in 16 games, and won representative honours with an appearance for an Overseas XI against South Africa. Helped by Kerr and Cocker, Arcadia finished in a best-ever fourth position in the South African first division, and also reached the South African Cup final.
In the semi final the outfield players rubbed their feet with a locally-made "magic" substance called muti, and the goalkeeper rubbed his hands with it. It worked, as they won 1-0, but in the final the magic powers apparently evaporated in 85 degree heat and Arcadia lost 3-0.
After a two-year spell in South Africa in which he was the club's top scorer, Mr Cocker turned down the opportunity of a further two-year contract, returned to England, and signed for Hereford United. He was to make a return to the Bucks Head in November 1969, albeit as part of the opposition - on the subs bench for Kidderminster, playing an FA Cup tie against Telford United.
The funeral of 77-year-old Mr Cocker, of Newport, was held earlier this month.
