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Andrew Cole

[Player Picture]
Personalia:
Born: 15/10 1971
Birthplace: Nottingham
Nationality: England (15/1)
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 79 kg
Position: Striker
Playing Record:
   
League
FAC
LC
Season: Club: Apps Gls Apps Gls Apps Gls
1989-1992 Arsenal 1 0 0 0 0 0
1991 Fulham (loan) 13 3 0 0 0 0
1992-1993 Bristol City 41 20 1 0 3 4
1993-1995 Newcastle United 70 55 4 1 7 8
1995-2001 Manchester United 195 93 21 9 2 0
2001-2004 Blackburn Rovers 83 27 5 3 8 7
2004-2005 Fulham 31 12 5 0 3 1
2005-2006 Manchester City 22 9 1 1 0 0
2006 Portsmouth 18 3 2 1 2 0
2007 Birmingham (loan) 5 1 0 0 0 0
Total:   491 223 39 15 25 20

Andy Cole began his footballing career with Arsenal, joining them on schoolboy forms after playing at the National School of Excellence at Lilleshall. After a stint with Bristol City he was brought to north England by Kevin Keegan to help Newcastle challenge for the Premiership title. Cole delivered as promised and 55 goals in 70 games was an remarkable feat that almost gave Newcastle the title in 1994.

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 Manchester United he scored 12 goals in 17 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.

Cole played for England schoolboys, scoring on his debut in a 2-0 victory over West Germany at Wembley. Still the lethal striker was never accepted as a natural first choice in the english team where the likes of Alan Shearer, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen always seemed to be the preferred choices.

With the arrival of Ruud van Nistelrooy in July 2001, Coles days at the swamp were numbered. Still United managed to scrape £8 mill. out of Blackburn for his services and even though he didn't manage to keep up his goal scoring rate from his days with Newcastle and United, he still was a vital figure in the team. After falling out with manager Graeme Souness he went to Fulham on a free transfer before the 2004/05 season, but returned to Manchester to play for the blues the following year. One of the reasons was that his family still lived in the north-west, but he also felt that he had something to prove, and the possibility to play for the Blue half and rejoin Stuart Pearce whom he knew from his England days was just the challenge he was looking for.


Provided by: Svenn A. Hanssen, svenn@hanssen.priv.no