32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League - Part 23
15. Andy Cole:
Andy Cole was a professional footballer who had his best time in the English Premier League team Manchester United back in 1995. Andy Cole has also featured for the English National team and he used to play as a forward for the Red Devils and all the other
clubs that he joined throughout his career. Andy Cole was universally known as “Andy” but in the year 2000 he told the press to refer to him as “Andrew Cole.”
Andrew Cole started his career from the North London side Arsenal. He was the product of one of the best youth academies during that time and after training with the youth side for a year, he joined Arsenal in 1989 as a “bench warmer.”
In the only year that he played with Arsenal, he only managed to make a single English League appearance and the very next year he was transferred to the other Premier League side Bristol City who saw the talent in the young boy.
After joining Bristol City, Andrew Cole became a lethal force upfront. He started to find the net more often and because of his amazing goal scoring ability, became a regular in the team. He played 41 games out of which he managed to make 23 League starts.
During his time in the club, he managed to score 20 goals for them.
After scoring a 20 alongside Bristol City, Newcastle saw the talent in him and decided to sign him. Andrew Cole signed with the Premier League side Newcastle United in 1993 and he managed to join them only for 2 years. However, those two years were simply
fabulous for him. He managed to score 55 goals in only 70 games and that is a record that not many strikers can meet when it comes down to scoring goals. He was always at the right place whenever someone used to pass him the ball and with the help of the players
playing with him, Andrew Cole managed to score a lot of goals for the team. After performing for 2 years with the zebras, Andy Cole was bought by the English club Manchester United and there he was to make the name for himself.
After joining Manchester United, Andrew Cole groomed into one of the highest scoring strikers of all time. With the help of players like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, he became a goal scoring machine for the Red Devils. The record that he maintained with
Manchester United for the 6 years that he played for them helped him become the second highest goal scorer in the history of the English Premier League.
Andrew Cole managed to find the net 93 times in only 195 league games that he played for Manchester United. However, 121 goals in 275 matches in all competitions is not a bad record either. Andrew Cole just knew how to finish the ball into the net and with
the help of his quick feet and the power that he had, he always managed to outrun the defenders that were there to mark him.
Later, he joined Blackburn Rovers for three years, and there he used to feature as a power sub but still managed to score 27 goals in 83 matches that he played. Andrew Cole was a consistent goal scorer and almost found the net in every team that he played
for. Every team except the last team that he joined before retiring from professional football, and that team was Nottingham Forest.
Andrew Cole also played for the English clubs Fulham and Manchester City. Even though he was criticized after joining his former club rivals Manchester City, he still managed to perform good for them and scored 9 goals in the Premier League for Manchester
City.
He also played for the English national team and his goals against Albania during the FIFA World Cup qualifiers are still famous. He is still the second highest goal scorer in the history of the English Premier League and will be remembered for the goals
that he scored for all the clubs that he played for.
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