Liv Cooke (born 20 April 1999) is a British freestyle football world champion,[1][2] and current six-time world record holder. She was also a BBC Sport presenter on the prime-time show 'MOTDx' and UEFA ambassador, who has previously been awarded the Parliamentary Rising Star[3] and Woman of the Future[4] awards.
Liv Cooke | |
|---|---|
 Liv Cooke in 2022 | |
| Born | 20 April 1999 Leyland, Lancashire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Football freestyle, public figure and entrepreneur |
| Spouse | Married |
Biography
editCooke started playing football at a young age having grown up with her two older brothers, Jack and Sam.
At the age of 10 she joined Preston North End F.C. whilst also playing in Woodlea Junior School's football team. Cooke went on to study at Balshaw's Church of England High School, where she captained the girls' football team, and signed for the Blackburn Rovers F.C. Centre of Excellence at the age of 14.
One year later, Cooke was side-lined by a recurring back injury and discovered freestyle football videos online. She began to learn the basics in her back garden and stopped playing football in 2015 to focus on freestyle. In 2016, at the age of 17, Cooke left Runshaw College early to pursue a career as a professional football freestyler.[5]
Since becoming a professional freestyler, Cooke has diversified her career through social media and TV, ambassadorial roles, and founding several companies.
Cooke has an extensive social media presence, with over seven million combined followers across platforms including TikTok and Instagram.[6][7]
Career
editIn 2015, Cooke performed freestyle publicly for the first time at St Andrews Infant School in her local town of Leyland, Lancashire. This was quickly followed by her first professional event, where she performed at a Blackburn Rovers half-time show at Ewood Park. Since then, Cooke has become the youngest ever professional football freestyler,[8] performing at events across the globe and working with a number of major organisations.
Her work has included performing at Qatar’s national sports day,[9] becoming an ambassador for the UEFA ‘We Play Strong’ initiative designed to get more girls into football, and touring Australia to inspire children to get active. Commercially, Cooke has featured in a Channel 4 TV commercial, a number of Adidas commercials, and a LIDL advert.[10] In addition, she has appeared on a number of TV shows including Match of the Day, Soccer AM, BBC[11] and Fox Soccer News.[12]
Cooke made her competitive freestyle debut in London in August 2016 at the Red Bull Street Style World Finals,[13] where she placed 6th and was the youngest qualifier. Later that year, Cooke qualified for the 2016 World Football Freestyle Championships in Melbourne.[14] She finished second, making her the youngest ever finalist. Cooke broke her foot in the final, which ruled her out for several months. She returned to training in April 2017. In August 2017, Cooke qualified for the 2017 Super Ball open football freestyle championships in Prague. Once there, she won all of her battles to become the world football freestyle champion and the youngest in history to ever take the title.[15]
In 2018, Cooke became an ambassador for UEFA Women's Football, launching her own social media-based series Play Anywhere. In 2019, Cooke became a global ambassador for UEFA Euro 2020.[16]
In September 2019, Cooke signed as a BBC Sport presenter. This role included hosting the new MOTDx[17] show, along with presenting features on Match of the Day.
In September 2021 Cooke had to pull out of the Soccer Aid line-up due to contracting Covid-19.[18][19]
In September 2021, Cooke was confirmed as the highest earning female athlete TikTok creator at that time.[20]
In October 2021, Cooke appeared on CBBC show Saturday Mash Up, where she was gunged with 20 buckets of slime after losing out in a vote against singer Nathan Evans.
In May 2022, Cooke was announced as the Boston Red Sox Wild Card for the inaugural Home Run Derby X in 2022, participating in the series across London, Seoul, and New Mexico.[21]
In August 2022, Cooke appeared alongside various other athletes and celebrities in the Sport Relief All Star Games, which aired shortly after the conclusion of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.[22]
Business interests
editIn November 2019 Cooke founded Liv Cooke Properties Ltd.,[23] a company focused on residential real estate developments and investments.[24] Her work on developments has also extended to advising on the development of the £2.6m South Ribble Playing Pitch Hub at Bamber Bridge Leisure Centre, which includes two new 3G pitches.[25]
Controversy
editIn February 2024, Cooke was involved in a social media controversy after a video of her discussing her property plans went viral on X, with commentators including housing unions noting her plans to create Houses of Multiple Occupancies to purchase a Ferrari were unethical.[26]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Gwynn, Simon (3 July 2017). "Channel 4 snaps up McDonald's to sponsor UEFA Women's Euro 2017 coverage". Campaign magazine. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ "Meet Liv Cooke: the 17-year-old revolutionising the freestyle football scene - The Irish News". Irish News. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ "Rising Stars Awards 2015 - Top 50 - WeAreTheCity | Information, Networking, jobs & events for women". WeAreTheCity. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ "2015 - Women of the Future Awards". Awards.womenofthefuture.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ "Meet Liv Cooke: Freestyle football world champion". BBC Three. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Liv Cooke (@livcookefs) Official".
- ^ "Instagram".
- ^ "Meet Liv Cooke: Freestyle football world champion". BBC Three. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Leyland teenager Liv's silky soccer skills wow TV viewers". Lancashire Post. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
- ^ "Freestyler Liv Cooke shows off her football skills in Lidl". YouTube. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ "Meet the amazing female freestyle football prodigy - BBC Three". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ "Liv Cooke has serious freestyle skills". FOX Sports. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- ^ "Archived copy". Red Bull. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ "WFFA Official Champions". The World Freestyle Football Association. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ "Leyland's freestyle footballer Liv Cooke is championing women in football after being named as Euro 2020 ambassador". www.lep.co.uk. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "The world at her feet". www.newschainonline.com. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ Hindhaugh, Aaron (1 September 2021). "Liv Cooke pulls out of Soccer Aid". Her Football Hub. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Leyland's football freestyler Liv Cooke pulls out of Soccer Aid 2021 after positive Covid test". www.lep.co.uk. September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Highest-earning athletes on TikTok might surprise you". calgarysun. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Meet the HRDX Wild Cards who could steal the show". MLB.com. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "Sport Relief All Star Games: Birmingham 2022 | Comic Relief". www.comicrelief.com. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "LIV COOKE PROPERTIES LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ "From the pitch to the building site: Freestyle footballer Liv Cooke breaks her way into the property industry". Lancashire Telegraph. October 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Leyland-born soccer sensation Liv Cooke to help Council create pitch perfect facilities". South Ribble Borough Council. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ ACORN the union. "A landlord bragging about turning a house into a HMO..." twitter.com. Retrieved 24 November 2024.