Jack Cork reveals the secrets of Burnley’s promotion push, his role in producing their next wave of stars and how Scott Parker has taken them to the next level

It was the end of August last year when Jack Cork realised something had to give.

Having left Burnley in the summer after seven seasons following a frustrating 2023-24 campaign that saw him appear just six times as the Clarets were relegated from the Premier League, Cork had ambitions to play on.

Nothing was materialising, but he had a back-up plan, having already picked up his Uefa B coaching licence. And when his former club came calling with the opportunity to work as the assistant manager of the Under 21s, Cork jumped at the chance.

‘It was a difficult period really,’ Cork tells Mail Sport from Burnley’s training ground. ‘The phone’s not ringing and it’s not going the way you want it to go.

‘I was fed up waiting. I was missing being around the place and coaching is something I’ve always wanted to get into.’

Cork, who made 267 appearances for Burnley across a seven-year permanent stint and two separate loan spells earlier in his career, officially started work in October and he is loving it.

He has been well-received and is overseeing a promising crop of talents at a club that hasn’t always been renowned for producing stars, with Dwight McNeil the most famous Burnley academy product in recent years.

The likes of Owen Dodgson and Dara Costelloe are impressing out on loan at Burton Albion and Northampton respectively, while Joe Bauress and Tommy McDermott are among the youngsters handed opportunities in cup competitions this season.

Cork, who counts Southampton and Swansea City among his former clubs, is the perfect mentor given his background, having come through the ranks at Chelsea’s vaunted academy and made a fantastic career for himself, with 589 club appearances across 18 seasons and playing for England against Germany at Wembley in 2017.

‘I think I’m done playing,’ explains the 35-year-old, whose father Alan was a key member of Wimbledon’s iconic Crazy Gang. ‘I felt like I could have made a big difference last year.

‘But as circumstances happen, it just felt right to go into coaching. I could have chased playing at a lower level, but this is the right place and the right time to get into my coaching and go from there.

‘You get a huge amount of pride by seeing these youngsters develop. It’s a different feeling, because you spend so long as a footballer worrying about yourself and the team, and to just see someone you’re working with every day take that step into the first team is great.’

Cork is speaking to Mail Sport on behalf of the Dude Perfect International Youth Cup, a three-day academy Under 12 tournament hosted by Burnley.

It features some of the biggest clubs in the world and focuses on giving young players exposure to high-quality competitive football. Last year Juventus won the main competition, while Burnley beat Valencia 7-1 in the final of the plate.

Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and FC Dallas are the first three teams already confirmed for this year’s edition and Cork is hugely enthused by the event, which is taking place this year from May 30 to June 1.

‘It’s really good for our lads because we are a Category Two academy,’ says Cork, a refreshing and forthright speaker. ‘For us to play these teams from abroad like AC Milan, Juventus and even Chelsea makes it feel like you’re part of something big.

’To give them an experience like that and to speak to and learn from other children from different cultures, countries and to compete against different styles of play is really good for all the coaching staff and kids involved.’

Cork’s role at Turf Moor sees him work closely with Burnley boss Scott Parker, attending daily staff meetings where a range of topics are discussed.

Parker’s side – who are unbeaten in 28 league games and have lost only twice all season – are in the midst of a fascinating automatic promotion race. The Clarets sit second, only behind Leeds on goal difference, while they are two points clear of Sheffield United. With five games left, it’s all to play for.

‘I think they’ll get the job done,’ Cork says. ‘They’re a strong team and we’ve got everything you need to go up in this league. It just depends on what Sheffield United and Leeds do.’

What does Cork tend to discuss with Parker?

‘Training sessions, what they are doing, if he needs Under 21 players and he’ll ask me about who’s doing well,’ he explains. ‘He’ll sometimes ask me about their games and what I think. It’s really good to be involved with that as he doesn’t have to do that.

‘I really enjoy seeing it from that side. He’s spot on, doesn’t miss a detail, works really hard and all the lads love him.’

Cork is uniquely placed to give an insight on Burnley’s promotion push given he knows most of the squad from his playing days, although he tends to keep his distance.

‘I try and stay out of the canteen as much as I can,’ he jokes. ‘I don’t want to be in there listening to the stories and chatting, so I try to keep it fresh. I chat to a couple of them, every now and again on phone, WhatsApp and stuff like that, but I’m trying to stay out of the canteen.’

Burnley’s push to return to the Premier League has been built on a remarkable defence, with the Clarets racking up 29 clean sheets and conceding just 12 goals in 41 league games. So how have they done it?

‘It’s just repetition and training,’ Cork explains. ‘They go through the details so much. They know where to be exactly, when to be there, when the press starts, when not to press. It’s so organised, so solid and that shows the hard work they put in each week.’

If Parker was in search of advice during the run-in, he could do a lot worse than lean on Cork.

Along with years of Premier League experience, Cork, who was part of Team GB’s squad at London 2012, knows what it takes to win promotion from the Championship.

He was a league champion under Vincent Kompany in 2022-23 and went up with Southampton in 2011-12.

‘The key is what you build off the pitch,’ he explains. ‘The team spirit and the trust you have in each other. When I’ve been in successful teams, that’s one of the main drivers.

‘And when you start winning, the feeling it generates around the club, the atmosphere rolls in. It’s like a big wheel that starts rolling and it doesn’t feel like anyone can stop it.

‘Once you’ve got that, it is what it is and the season takes care of itself, as long as you’re working hard.’

Would he pass on any advice to Parker? ‘Just keep going,’ he says. ‘I wouldn’t do anything different. Just keep trusting what they’re doing and it’ll take care of itself.’

Cork’s last Premier League appearance came less than a year ago, so it’s been somewhat of a whirlwind period for the midfielder – who played 304 times in the top flight – but after all he has achieved in the game, has he had a chance to sit back and reflect?

‘It’s strange,’ he says. ‘Because when you’re in it, it’s all rolls into one so when I finished I looked back and went, “f***ing hell”.

‘It was crazy, and when I stepped into coaching to see how good some of these young players are, and then to not get the opportunities, it made me realise how lucky I was to have the career I had.’

For now, it’s time to continue on his new challenge and Cork plans to go about it with the same gumption and attitude he showed across his impressive career that began at Chelsea at the age of nine and ended at Turf Moor 26 years later.

‘I’m going to work hard, as hard as I can every day, give everything and see where it takes me,’ he says. ‘I might enjoy it, I might not, and we’ll go from there.’

Click here to access free tickets to the Dude Perfect International Youth Cup taking place in Burnley from 30th May.

Birmingham deserve their credit

It may have been no surprise that Birmingham secured promotion from League One with six games to go on Tuesday given their summer outlay of more than £25million and a squad that wouldn’t look out of place towards the top of the Championship. 

But Chris Davies’ side deserve their credit too. Birmingham are arguably the greatest League One side ever with a remarkable 95 points from 40 games and look set to beat Wolves’ record haul of 103 points in the 2013-14 season. 

Davies has built an extraordinary team and it is worth remembering that League One has previously sucked in and swallowed up big clubs such as Sunderland, Ipswich, Nottingham Forest and Leeds for several years, so getting promoted at the first attempt is not something to be sniffed at.

This is likely to be just the start of Birmingham’s journey and things could immediately get even better when they aim to complete a double in the EFL Trophy final on Sunday against Peterborough.

Kids rule the roost at Boro

This weekend’s wholesome moment came during Stevenage’s clash against Crawley, with Boro conducting their annual Kids Takeover.

This saw eight lucky junior club members shadow key roles during a matchday, including mini-kit person, mini-chairman, mini-manager and even mini-referee.

But the star of the show was eight-year old Cooper, who was the mini-social media admin for the day and several of his tweets went viral.

A scroll down the club’s X feed is well worth a look, but posts such as: ‘brandon hanlan nearly scores unlucky’, ‘dan kemp accidentally got hit in the head’ were suddenly getting hundreds of thousands of views.

But one post that received more than 1.2million impressions was relatable for football fans far and wide. ‘We can’t get out the our box,’ it read.

Thankfully for Boro, and Cooper, they eventually managed to and picked up a 3-1 win to stabilise their spot in midtable in League One, but well done to Stevenage for giving those eight young fans a day they won’t forget.