Sam Cosgrove

Sam Benjamin Cosgrove (born 2 December 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for A-League club Auckland FC.

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. A successful three seasons with Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership preceded a return to English football with Birmingham City in 2021. After loans at Shrewsbury Town, AFC Wimbledon and Plymouth Argyle, he signed for Barnsley in 2023. He had a loan spell at Stockport County, and upon the end of his contract at Barnsley, Cosgrove moved to New Zealand, signing for Auckland FC.

Career Early life and career Cosgrove was born in 1996 in Beverley, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Cosgrove began his youth football career as an under-10 with Everton, but was released at 16. He signed scholarship forms with Wigan Athletic in 2013, and took his A levels during that time rather than the standard sports-related BTEC course.

Cosgrove's first matchday involvement with the senior team came while he was still a second-year scholar, as part of his development process, when manager Malky Mackay named him as a substitute for the FA Cup third round visit to Bolton Wanderers on 3 January 2015. He remained part of the squad for four league matches during January, each time as an unused substitute. Having scored 44 goals from 40 matches over two years with Wigan's Under-18 team,

In the 2015–16 season, Cosgrove gained experience from three spells on loan in non-league football. He made his senior debut for National League club Barrow on 18 August 2015, as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw with Guiseley. Starting in place of the injured Andy Cook, he "produced a solid display" in the next game, a defeat to Cheltenham Town, He joined Chorley on 25 November until the following 2 January, and played only 20 minutes in the National League North. His third loan was at Nantwich Town of the Northern Premier League Premier Division. A debut goal was disallowed for offside, but he did score Nantwich's 100th goal of the season a few weeks later.

Cosgrove signed a one-year contract with Wigan in June 2016, made 14 National League appearances (3 starts) without scoring,

Carlisle United After a trial in pre-season, Cosgrove signed for League Two club Carlisle United on 1 August 2017 on a short–term deal until January. Against Fleetwood Town in the first round of the EFL Cup on 8 August, he came on as a 90th-minute substitute and helped the team win 2–1 after extra time. Four days later, he made his Football League debut, again as a substitute, in a 2–1 win against Cambridge United. Cosgrove found his first-team opportunities limited: he was a regular on the bench but rarely left it. his contract was extended to the end of the season, and on 13 January he scored his first goal to secure a 1–0 win against Crewe Alexandra. He played twice more before the club accepted a bid for his services. £30,000, Eight minutes into his debut, a 2–0 defeat against Celtic on 25 February, he was sent off for a "reckless challenge" on opposing captain Scott Brown. After playing just 11 minutes in the Scottish Cup over the next few weeks, he made his first Aberdeen start on 27 April, set up a goal for Anthony O'Connor in a 2–0 win against Hearts, and helped them beat Celtic in the last match of the season to finish as runners-up.

Aberdeen legend Willie Miller wrote that 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 Cosgrove scored an "emphatic header" against West Bromwich Albion in pre-season. In the Europa League qualifier against Burnley, he won a penalty, converted by Gary Mackay-Steven to open the scoring in a 1–1 draw; although they lost the second leg after extra time, he took confidence from performing well against top-class defenders.

Cosgrove started the Scottish League Cup Final, which Aberdeen lost 1–0 to Celtic on 2 December. In the next match, in which Aberdeen beat Rangers at Ibrox, he was sent off for a second bookable offence which pundits felt was not a foul. After serving a one-match ban, he scored and assisted in a 3–2 win against Livingston; a booking for simulation was rescinded. Six more goals in December earned him the Scottish Premiership Player of the Month award. He signed a contract extension to 2022, His 17 Premiership goals placed him second only to Rangers' Alfredo Morelos (18) as top scorer. while McInnes highlighted how a focus on "movement, anticipation and speed of thought" helped him react more like a smaller striker than a pure target man. Six goals in four Europa League qualifiers, including a hat-trick against Chikhura Sachkhere, proved McInnes' point that Aberdeen had been right to persevere with Cosgrove despite media criticism. He continued with two goals in a 3–2 league win against Hearts, an extra-time winner in the League Cup, and 11 goals from his next 18 matches, He set himself a 30-goal target, last achieved for Aberdeen by Joe Harper in 1978–79, but a seven-match goal drought and a back injury left him on 23 and the team in fourth place when the season was curtailed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite reports of interest from clubs in England and further afield during the past season, Aberdeen confirmed that there had been no offers. In July 2020, the club accepted a bid in excess of £2 million from French club Guingamp for Cosgrove, who rejected the move. He 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. He returned to action on 25 October, set up a goal for Ryan Hedges in a 3–3 draw with Celtic, and scored two weeks later, Financial Fair Play restrictions reportedly put Cosgrove out of Sheffield Wednesday's reach, but a £2 million bid from Birmingham City was accepted.

Birmingham City Cosgrove signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Championship club Birmingham City on 31 January 2021. The fee was officially undisclosed. The News and Star reported that Carlisle United would benefit from a sell-on clause, possibly to the extent of 20% of Aberdeen's profit on the deal. He made his debut on 6 February as a very late substitute in a 3–2 defeat away to AFC Bournemouth, his three appearances before Karanka was sacked a month later were all from the bench. He 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.

Loans to Shrewsbury Town and AFC Wimbledon He joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on 11 August 2021 on loan for the season, and made his debut three days later away to Morecambe, replacing Nathanael Ogbeta at half-time with his side 2–0 down. Although his side were, according to the Shropshire Star, "much sharper after the break", the score remained unchanged.

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. Not registered in time for the next day's match, he started and played 67 minutes in a 3–2 defeat away to Charlton Athletic on 5 February.

Loan to Plymouth Argyle He made three first-team appearances for Birmingham in August 2022, He made his debut two days later, coming on after 75 minutes of Argyle's visit to Derby County with his side 2–1 down. With his first touch of the ball, he turned Niall Ennis's cross-shot into the net, and on 90 minutes, he broke at pace and beat the goalkeeper with a low shot to secure a 3–2 win.

On 21 December, Cosgrove scored a second-half hat-trick against AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Trophy. Argyle trailed 3–0 at half-time, but Cosgrove's goals against his former club took the tie to penalties, which Plymouth won 4–3 to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Cosgrove ended his spell at Plymouth with a League One winners' medal. He scored twelve goals in all competitions for the club.

With his Barnsley contract due to expire, Cosgrove joined League One rivals Stockport County on 3 February 2025 on loan until the end of the 2024–25 season. He was released by Barnsley at the end of the 2024–25 season.

Auckland FC On 19 August 2025, Auckland FC announced Cosgrove as their newest signing, with him filling their fifth foreign players slot.

On 1 November 2025, Cosgrove scored his first goal in a 2–1 win over Adelaide United. On 14 March 2026, Cosgrove scored a brace in a 2–1 win over the Newcastle Jets, scoring his ninth and tenth goals of the campaign and becoming the first Auckland FC player to score 10 or more goals in a single season.

Following the conclusion of the regular season on 26 April, Cosgrove was awarded the A-League Men Golden Boot, becoming the first Englishman to win the award. He shared the honour with Luka Jovanović, with both players finishing on 11 goals, the lowest since the 2006–07 season. Cosgrove was later included in the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) A-League Team of the Season, alongside teammates Jesse Randall and Francis de Vries.

Cosgrove featured in all four of Auckland FC's A-League Men finals series matches despite playing with ruptured ankle ligaments, including in the grand final, as Auckland defeated Sydney FC 1–0 to become the first New Zealand club to win the A-League Men Championship.

On 26 August 2026, Cosgrove was shown a straight red card in Auckland FC's 1–0 defeat to Al-Ahli in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, following a lunging challenge on Valentin Atangana.

Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

2015–16 League One

2016–17 Championship

Barrow (loan) 2015–16 National League

Carlisle United 2017–18 League Two

2017–18 Scottish Premiership

2019–20 Scottish Premiership

2020–21 Championship

2021–22 League One

Plymouth Argyle (loan) 2022–23 League One

2023–24 League One

2024–25 League One

2025–26 A-League Men

2026–27 Plymouth Argyle EFL League One: 2022–23 Individual

A-League Men Golden Boot: 2025–26