Joining the board of Exeter City in 1911, three years after the advent of professional football in the city, the activities of Mr Cook were investigated by the FA commission established to look into alleged irregular payments at the club. Following the commission meeting at the Great Western Hotel in Exeter in June 1912, he was censured for his part in the affair along with several other directors. He resigned from the board the following year.

Born in Ivybridge in the early 1870s he was an insurance agent at the time of the 1901 census but was later a manager for Truman, Hanbury and Buxton, a major brewing company.