The Oldham fans didn't know quite what to make of Ernie Cooksey, the most unlikely looking of footballers, when he first played for the Latics in a friendly against near neighbours Rochdale in the summer of 2003. He appeared to have arrived from a bygone era; he was short, not particularly athletic looking, and his bald head somehow seemed quite old fashioned. On top of that he had just arrived from non-league football, and his style, at first glance, appeared to be anything but cultured. So when cries of "Ernie for England" began to emanate from the Oldham fans it was with a deep irony, that some may have taken badly. The chants were greeted, not with derision, or half-hearted joviality, but with Cooksey's trademark full-face grin; and so it was, that a new fan's favourite was born.

Born on the 11th of June 1980 in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, Ernest George Cooksey's introduction to football as a trainee at Colchester United didn't result in a professional contract; it wasn't until after a number of years of non-league football at the likes of Crawley Town and Chesham United, that he got his chance at Oldham Athletic. Whilst at Chesham, he was managed by Bob Dowie, brother of Iain; and it was Iain Dowie that gave him his big chance and brought him to Oldham.

Cooksey was a deceptively talented footballer. Often written off as a yard-dog, a leg-biter, a grafter, all of which were true, but he was in fact much more than that. Admittedly not the most technically gifted of players, he did have an excellent footballing brain. His movement off the ball was often magnificent, and in particular, his late runs into the penalty area, reminiscent of both Latics fan Paul Scholes and legend Roger Palmer, often resulted in goals.

Cooksey spent just one season at Oldham, starting 26 matches and appearing from the bench on another fifteen occasions, he managed to contribute six goals. He moved on to Lancashire neighbours Rochdale in September 2004, making 100 appearances and scoring eight goals, before transferring to Boston United in January 2007, for whom he made 16 appearances before returning to non-league football with Grays Athletic in the summer of 2007.

Unfortunately Grays was to be Cooksey's last club as, in February 2007, he was diagnosed with a recurrence of a malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. A number of events were organised in order to raise money to send Cooksey to America for experimental treatment, including a friendly between Oldham and Rochdale, but alas, it was too late as on the 3rd of July 2008 he lost his battle with cancer, passing away in hospital at the side of his partner, Louise who is expecting their first child in August 2008.