Tottenham coach Justin Cochrane has been a rising star of English football in recent years but his life was turned upside down when he sadly lost his wife to cancer last year
England and Tottenham Hotspur coach Justin Cochrane has opened up on the heart-breaking death of his wife, Leeanne. Cochrane, who is currently assistant coach to Thomas Frank at Spurs, tragically lost his wife in November 2024, at the age of just 40.
Cochrane, 43, was still working at Brentford under Frank at the time, before taking on his role as part of Thomas Tuchel’s coaching staff with the England national team in February 2025. But, as he has continued to build his promising coaching career, he has had to deal with the immeasurable pain of losing the mother of his three sons to a rare form of thyroid cancer.
The couple were initially told by doctors that she had a very slim chance of survival. Having received treatment at the Royal Marsden hospital in London, Leeanne sadly passed away ten months later.
Cochrane bravely spoke about her death in a recent interview with Sky Sports, saying: “Going from everything going smoothly sailing to being a solo parent and organising everything around my family. Dealing with the shock while maintaining my work, it is difficult to put into words what I have experienced this last year.
“She was an incredible wife and mother, she was perfect for me and she brought balance to the family. She supported my journey in coaching and did whatever she could for the boys. My life was pretty much perfect and she was a massive part of that.
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“Leeanne, although she did not have many symptoms of illness, after ten months she was no longer here. The decline was pretty quick and very tough to see as her husband and to manage as a father.
“It was incredibly tough, I had the support of the club [Brentford] and all the staff. I told the players quite early on as there would be times I would be away and they were all supportive. Christian Norgaard, the captain, was incredible throughout.
“That period was tough because there was hope that maybe she could beat this. But there was also realism if she did go and what would happen, I had less sleep then. After she passed, I probably slept five hours but before when she was ill and I was dealing with those thoughts, it was three hours.”
Speaking about the initial period after Leeanne’s passing, the former QPR and Millwall defender added: “It was a bit of a daze, I was in shock, it felt like I was knocked out but I was still on my feet. I went into a mode to provide for my three sons, Leeanne spoke about me looking after them and myself.
“That gave me my strength, although the days were tough and the nights were long. Every time I got out of bed I had to find a way to get to the end of the day and some days were harder than others of course.
“Football was able to give a release and was able to help, a good training session with laughs and joy or a win on the weekend could give you a little lift. But then the reality sets in again and you keep going and you find a little way.”
Cochrane, who has had a community bench made in his wife’s honour near their home, is set to go to the World Cup with England next summer. However, he recalled breaking down in tears on the team bus early on in his Three Lions career, when a certain song played on the speakers.
He said: “I was on the way to Wembley and a song came on the coach and I had been with the staff maybe five days.
“I just started crying, I was sat opposite Henrique Hilario, and in that moment he just knew and gave me a hug.
“He just saw what was required but it had just hit me, I had been fine for a few days but it hit me that she was not going to be with me that day.”