[2][3] Cochrane, together with his schools' team captain and future England international Trevor Smith,[4] joined Birmingham City in the summer of 1951, and signed professional forms when he turned 17.
[3] He made his first-team debut on 7 March 1953, aged 17 years 4 months, in the Second Division match at Huddersfield Town which finished 1–1, and kept his place for the next game.
[6] His progress was interrupted by his National Service commitment; after two years spent as a cook, he returned to the club overweight and unfit, and never played for the first team again.
[3] In June 1958 Cochrane joined Fourth Division club Walsall as part of Brian Taylor's transfer to Birmingham.
He scored once in six league games before dropping into non-league football at the end of the 1958–59 season with Wellington Town and then Stourbridge.