331: Andy Cole, Newcastle United, Merlin’s Premier League 95 Sticker Collection

This week Richard Allinson brings us a look at an old fashioned forward who enjoyed little more than hitting the back of the net throughout a long and successful career in English football. Due to the plethora of attacking talent in the country during the 1990s he never quite hit the international heights enjoyed by his namesakes Ashley and Joe but neither of them won the Treble or released a questionable single so who is the real winner? Over to Rich with the answer.

I love a goal scorer. I mean, who doesn’t? In the lower leagues it is hard for clubs to find a twenty goal-a-season man. Generally, they are rarer than a Sumatran rhinoceros and if a player is capable of scoring so many goals then they’re not available for transfer and certainly not within most clubs’ budgets. In the upper echelons of the game, the same considerations don’t really apply, as money guarantees goals. Just take the £52m Chelsea spent on Fernando Torres. Or the £47m Chelsea spent on Timo Werner. Or the £40m Chelsea spent on Andriy Shevchenko. Ah, bugger. 

Goal scorers in the traditional sense of the word aren’t that common anymore (a bit like Sumatran rhinoceros). However, in the nineties they were rife. England alone could choose from the likes of Teddy Sheringham (288 career goals), Alan Shearer (283), Peter Beardsley (239), Ian Wright (239), Andy Cole (229), Robbie Fowler (186), Les Ferdinand (184), Michael Owen (183), Homes Under the Hammer star Dion Dublin (183), Chris Sutton (148) and Stan Collymore (110). Nowadays, clubs prefer having an array of “number 10s” i.e. blokes who aren’t robust enough to play in midfield or upfront, that can play a three-yard square ball effectively, and that have perfected the art of looking anguished when one of their crosses manages to evade everyone in the box. For me though, you can keep all of these wannabe Ibrahima Bakayokos if it means having two proper strikers in the side.

Andy Cole, he scored goals. Having started out at Arsenal, he moved to Bristol City for £500,000 in 1992. Twelve goals in 29 games for the Robins saw Newcastle United break their transfer record when they paid £1.75m for him in 1993. His first season saw him hit twelve goals in as many games as the Magpies gained promotion from the First Division to the Premier League. It was in the 1993/94 season where he came to national attention with 41 goals in all competitions, breaking Hughie Gallacher’s seventy-year-old club goal scoring record. At the time of writing, Joelinton is yet to top Cole’s achievements. It was a campaign that also saw Cole secure the PFA Young Player of the Year award and the Golden Boot. Another nine goals in 18 games at the start of the next season saw Manchester United swoop in and sign Cole for £6m plus Keith Gillespie. Overall, he bagged 68 goals in 84 games for Newcastle, a conversion rate of 81%. 

Initially, Cole played second fiddle to Kung-Fu Cantona and was even offered to Blackburn Rovers as part of a bid for Alan Shearer. He then suffered two broken legs courtesy of Neil Ruddock, who later said "I didn't mean to break both of his legs if I'm honest, I only meant to break one.” Great. On Cantona’s unexpected retirement ahead of the 1997/98 season, Cole was elevated to first choice at Old Trafford where he formed a strong partnership with Teddy Sheringham despite Cole saying he “loathed” and “pretty much detested” his strike partner. 25 goals in all competitions weren’t enough to convince Glenn Hoddle to take him to France ‘98, and although he might not have done a Michael Owen, he’d have probably been better on pens than David Batty. The signing of Dwight Yorke ahead of the 1998/99 season elevated Cole to the next level as 53 goals between the pair fired United to an historic Treble. The next season saw Cole net twenty goals for the third season in a row as United claimed yet more silverware. He was to spend another two years with the Red Devils before moving on to Blackburn Rovers for £8m in 2001. Overall, his time at Old Trafford saw a haul of nine trophies and 121 goals in 275 games. 

Whilst with Rovers, he knocked in 37 goals in 100 games and picked up the 2001/02 League Cup. Pretty impressive considering it is not one of the most noteworthy periods in his career. After leaving the Lancastrians, he went on to represent a further seven clubs in the space of four years, eventually hanging up his boots in 2008 following an unremarkable eleven games with hometown club Nottingham Forest. A pretty remarkable career all things considered. In the words to his number 68 smash hit Outstanding, Cole blazed the scene and score the goals. He was sharp like a razor and had speed to amaze ya. He got his kicks from hitting the net. Not from drugs.