Jack Frank Porteous Cork

As a footballer quite unlike his father, who was a marauding goalscorer, Jack Cork cuts a coltish figure as a creative midfielder who can also play in defence. Developing in an era in which it’s almost impossible to break into Chelsea’s senior squad from the club’s youth and reserve teams (both of which he captained), he gained considerable Football League experience over a period of five seasons through a succession of loans, until eventually signed on a permanent basis by Southampton. It was his former reserve-team manager, Brendan Rodgers, who brought him to Vicarage Road – just as he had done in the case of another of his Chelsea captains, Liam Bridcutt.

West Herts / Watford Career