BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Andrew Alexander Cole born 15 October 1971 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire is an English former professional footballer and coach at Huddersfield Town. He was almost universally known as Andy Cole in the 1990s, but in 2000, he allegedly asked to be known as Andrew Cole.
As a player, he was a striker from 1988 to 2008. He is most notably remembered for his time in the Premier League, with Manchester United, where he spent six years of his career and winning numerous trophies in the process. He also played in the top division of English football for Arsenal, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Sunderland, as well as in the Football League for Bristol City, Birmingham City, Burnley and Nottingham Forest.
A former England international, Cole is the second-highest goalscorer in Premier League history; in his career, Cole has scored a total of 187 Premier League goals, placing him behind Alan Shearer who has 260 goals. Cole has the distinction of being one of the few players in England to have swept all possible honours in the English game, including the PFA Young Player of the Year award, as well as the coveted UEFA Champions League title. Cole was also capped fifteen times for England between 1995 and 2001, scoring once, against Albania in a World Cup Qualifier.
Early career
Cole started his career as a youth player for Arsenal on leaving school in 1988, signing professional in 1989. He made his only league appearance for Arsenal, aged 19, as a substitute against Sheffield United at Highbury during a First Division game on 29 December 1990; Arsenal won 4–1 but Cole did not score. He also made a substitute appearance against Tottenham Hotspur in the Charity Shield in 1991 and almost made an immediate impact, hitting the side netting from outside the area.
The following season he was loaned to Fulham in the Third Division, where he scored three goals in 13 games, before being sold to Second Division Bristol City in a £500,000 deal – at the time he was the Ashton Gate club's most expensively signed player.
Having proved himself as a competent young goalscorer with Bristol City (who began the 1992–93 season in the new Football League Division One following the creation of the Premier League), Cole was quickly one of the hottest prospects in England and his name was regularly linked with Premier League clubs throughout the 1992–93 season.
Newcastle United
In February 1993, Division One leaders Newcastle United splashed out a then club record £1.75 million for his services. He then scored 12 goals in as many league games as the Magpies cruised to the Division One title and won promotion to the Premier League. His 12 goals included two hat-tricks, the first against Barnsley on 7 April, the second on the final day of the season in a 7–1 hammering of Leicester City. He also scored the first of the club's two goals in their 2–0 promotion clinching win over Grimsby Town at Blundell Park on 4 May.
After David Kelly was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers, manager Kevin Keegan brought in Peter Beardsley as Cole's strike partner for the 1993–94 Premier League campaign.
Cole scored 34 goals in 40 games during Newcastle's first Premier League season as they finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Cole scored a total of 41 goals in all competitions – breaking the club's goalscoring record which had been set by Hughie Gallacher nearly 70 years earlier (Gallacher still holds the record for the highest number of league goals in a season with 36). His first top division goal was in a 1–1 draw against defending league champions Manchester United (who went on to win the double) at Old Trafford on 21 August. This was Newcastle's first goal in the Premier League.
Exactly three months later, he scored all three goals as the Magpies crushed Liverpool 3–0 at home. Another hat-trick followed against Coventry City in late February and with Peter Beardsleyalmost as lethal as his strike partner, the Magpies finished third in the league and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time since the 1970s. Cole was subsequently voted PFA Young Player of the Year for that season.
Cole then scored nine Premier League goals in 18 games for Newcastle after the start of the 1994–95 season, and also scored a hat-trick against Royal Antwerp in the UEFA Cup.
In all, Cole hit 68 goals in 84 games for Newcastle giving him a strike rate of 81%. In terms of goals per game for Newcastle, only Hughie Gallacher has a better record. His last goal for the Magpies came in the 1–1 home draw with Ipswich Town on 26 November 1994.
Manchester United
On 10 January 1995, Cole was suddenly sold in a shock deal to Manchester United for a deal worth £7 million – £6 million cash plus £1 million-rated Keith Gillespie going in the opposite direction, setting a new record for the most expensive British transfer.
Despite joining halfway through the 1994–95 season, Cole still managed to score 12 goals in just 18 Premier League games for United. This included his first, the winner in a 1–0 victory overAston Villa on 4 February at Old Trafford and five in the 9–0 rout of Ipswich Town; making him the first player to score five goals in a Premier League game.
However, he missed two goal chances in the final minutes against West Ham United on the final day of the season as they could only manage a 1–1 draw and the league title went to Blackburn Rovers instead. He was cup-tied for the FA Cup Final a week later. Without him, United lost to Everton 1–0. United were also without the banned Eric Cantona and the injured Andrei Kanchelskis, the club's two other highest scoring players that season.
His first full season in 1995–96 with Manchester United proved to be difficult, as Cole struggled to find his trademark form in a side now built around the much heralded return of Eric Cantona. Though Cole scored in four successive games during the winter, including an important opening goal in United's 2–0 defeat of title rivals Newcastle United on 27 December, Cole was badgered by fans and critics alike across much of the season for only scoring 14 times and missing many chances. However, Cole picked up his form in the business end of the season and scored critical goals including the winner in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea to send United to Wembley again. He then collected his first Premier League title winners medal and scored the second goal in United's 3–0 defeat of Middlesbrough on the final day of the season to help United win the Premier League title for the third time in four years. He also played in their FA Cup final victory to become part of England's first ever side to win the double twice.
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