20 Facts About Sam Cosgrove

Sam Benjamin Cosgrove was born on 2 December 1996 and is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for League One club Stockport County, on loan from EFL League One club Barnsley.

Sam Cosgrove began his career with Wigan Athletic, and had loan spells in non-league football with Barrow, Chorley, Nantwich Town and North Ferriby United before making his Football League debut with Carlisle United.

Sam Cosgrove's family moved to Cheshire while he was still a baby, and he attended Knutsford High School.

Sam Cosgrove began his youth football career as an under-10 with Everton, but was released at 16.

Sam Cosgrove signed scholarship forms with Wigan Athletic in 2013, and took his A levels during that time rather than the standard sports-related BTEC course.

Sam Cosgrove signed a one-year contract with Wigan in June 2016, and made his debut as a late substitute in the EFL Cup against Oldham Athletic in August.

Sam Cosgrove spent the second half of the on loan at North Ferriby United, made 14 National League appearances without scoring, and was released by Wigan when his contract expired.

Sam Cosgrove found his first-team opportunities limited: he was a regular on the bench but rarely left it.

Sam Cosgrove played twice more before the club accepted a bid for his services.

Aberdeen legend Willie Miller wrote that Sam Cosgrove was well placed to fill the striker vacancy caused by Adam Rooney's departure, and might have the mentality to seize the opportunity, but his impression was that manager Derek McInnes felt he "still [had] a lot of developing to do".

McInnes spoke of the importance to the team of his "size, his strength, his willingness to occupy defenders" after Sam Cosgrove scored an "emphatic header" against West Bromwich Albion in pre-season.

Sam Cosgrove signed a contract extension to 2022, scored three more goals in January and five in February, but then his scoring form dipped.

Sam Cosgrove became increasingly "capable of impacting games from a deeper position" using his pace.

Sam Cosgrove then damaged a knee and was out for three months, during which time he was one of eight Aberdeen players who were heavily fined by the club and received a suspended three-match ban from the Scottish Football Association after breaching COVID protocols by visiting a bar as a group.

Sam Cosgrove signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Championship club Birmingham City on 31 January 2021.

Sam Cosgrove saw Cosgrove as a potential like-for-like replacement for Jutkiewicz, but without the latter's physicality and consistency of performance, and it was only when relegation was avoided with two matches still to play that Cosgrove made his first start as one of the many squad players whom Bowyer wanted to assess.

Sam Cosgrove was recalled from Shrewsbury and signed for another League One team, AFC Wimbledon, on 31 January 2022 on loan for the rest of the season.

Sam Cosgrove made three first-team appearances for Birmingham in August 2022, before returning to League One when he joined Plymouth Argyle on 1 September on loan for the remainder of the season.

Sam Cosgrove ended his spell at Plymouth with a League One winners' medal.

Sam Cosgrove scored twelve goals in all competitions for the club.