Name : Andy Cole

Birthplace : Nottingham, 15/10/1971

Height : 178cm - 5ft 10in

Weight : 78kg - 12st 4lb

Full International : England (4 caps, 0 goals)

Position : Forward

Squad Number : 9

Debut : 22.01.1995

Appearances (1995-1999) : 184 - 27 as sub

Goals : 81

Andy Cole began his footballing career with Arsenal, joining them on schoolboy forms after playing at the National School of Excellence at Lilleshall.

However, things did not go according to plan and his first team outings with Arsenal were limited. After Cole was loaned to Fulham and Bristol City, he was transferred to Bristol City in July 1992, for a fee of £500,000.

He spent just a little under a year with Bristol City before Newcastle paid £1,750,000 - a record transfer fee received by Bristol City - in March 1993. He was an instant success with Newcastle, helping them to secure promotion into the Premier League in his first season. The following year, his 34 League goals won him the European 'Golden Boot' and the 1994 PFA Young Player of the Year award.

In January 1995, in an attempt to strengthen his squad, Alex Ferguson paid a then British record transfer fee of £6,250,000 for Andy Cole's services.

In his first season with United he scored twelve goals in seventeen games - a decent return for any forward - five of them coming in Manchester United's 9-0 defeat of Ipswich Town. His goals, however, were not enough to clinch the Championship in the 1994-5 season and United finished the season without any silverware for the first time in five years.

The following season Cole picked up a Premier League Championship medal, scoring one of United's goals in their 3-0 victory at Middlesbrough in the last game of the season, to wipe out the memory of West Ham twelve months earlier. He also collected an FA Cup winners' medal as United completed the Double for the second time by beating Liverpool 1-0 in the final.

The 1996-97 season did not all go according to plan for United's record signing. Cole started the season with pneumonia, then broke both legs in a Reserve team game in September. On top of this, Alex Ferguson's summer signing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, had got off to a flying start scoring five goals in his first ten games.

Fortunately for Cole, the season finished on a much happier note, with United picking up their fourth League Championship in five years, and his subsequent recall to the England squad.

The 1997-98 campaign proved to be one of Cole's best seasons. He finished as United's top scorer with 25 goals including two hat-tricks, one against Barnsley in a 7-0 thrashing and one against Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League. Despite a season of much personal success, Cole was unlucky not to be included in England's 22 man squad for the World Cup Finals in France.

The 1998-99 season saw Cole begin where he left off, striking up an almost telepathic partnership with new signing Dwight Yorke. Cole played some of the best football of his career, and it was to the astonishment of football managers and critics alike the length and breadth of the country that Glenn Hoddle continued to overlook Cole's dazzling form. Nevertheless, when Howard Wilkinson temporarily took charge of the England team, Cole was recalled to the squad, one which had apparently been picked by Hoddle.

Did You Know?

Andy Cole played for England schoolboys, scoring on his debut in a 2-0 victory over West Germany at Wembley.

He scored the equalising goal for Manchester United, in their 2-1 victory against Southampton, in April 1995, the same day his son Devante was born

 

Andy Cole