Andy Cole

Cole scored 34 goals in 40 matches during Newcastle's first Premier League season as they finished third, and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time since the 1970s.

Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a British record transfer fee to sign him from Newcastle United.

Cole began 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 match 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 penalty area.

The following season, Cole was loaned to Fulham in the Third Division, where he scored three goals in 13 matches.

Cole joined Second Division Bristol City on loan in March 1992 before signing in a £500,000 permanent deal in the summer of 1992, at the time becoming their most expensive 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 frequently linked with Premier League clubs throughout the 1992–93 season.

He is the fourth-highest goalscorer in Premier League history with 187 goals, and used to hold the Premier League records for most goals scored in a 42-game season (34), the fastest player to score 50 goals (65 matches), and the first player to top both the Premier League's goalscoring and assist charts in the same season (1993–94).

Cole has the distinction of having won every top-level team competition in English football at least once, as well as the primary European competition, the UEFA Champions League.

As an individual he has won the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

In February 1993, Division One leaders Newcastle United broke their club transfer record by paying £1.75 million to sign Cole.

He then scored 12 goals in as many league matches as Newcastle 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.

His first top division goal was in a 1–1 draw against defending league champions Manchester United at Old Trafford on 21 August 1993.

This was Newcastle's first goal in the Premier League.

Exactly three months later, Cole scored all three goals as Newcastle defeated Liverpool 3–0 at home.

Another emphatic hat-trick followed against Coventry City in late February and with Peter Beardsley almost as lethal as his strike partner.

Cole scored 41 total 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).

Cole scored in 26 different Premier League appearances for Newcastle in 1993–94, which is a season record in the competition by a player.

Cole was subsequently voted PFA Young Player of the Year for that season.

Cole then scored 9 goals in 18 Premier League matches 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 scored 68 goals in 84 matches for Newcastle, giving him a strike rate of 81%.

Cole's last goal for Newcastle United came in the 1–1 home draw with Ipswich Town on 26 November 1994.

Despite joining halfway through the 1994–95 season, Cole still managed to score 12 goals in just 18 Premier League matches for United.

This included his first, the winner in a 1–0 victory over Aston 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 match.

He also scored twice in away wins over Leicester City and Coventry City during the season's final stages, as his new team kept up the pressure and cut the gap between themselves and league leaders Blackburn Rovers.

However, Cole 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.

Cole was capped 15 times for the England national team between 1995 and 2001, scoring once against Albania in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

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.

Newcastle fans were saddened and confused with Keegan for selling Cole, leading to Keegan publicly confronting fans at St James' Park, against the advice of chairman Sir John Hall and first team coach Terry McDermott, explaining his reasons on the day of the transfer.

Cole stated his sadness at leaving the club, however felt the iconic status Newcastle fans aligned with him was premature and affecting him personally, whilst he cited Newcastle's November loss to Wimbledon as permanently damaging his relationship with Keegan.

McDermott stated in his autobiography that Keegan decided to sell Cole citing a drop in form and enthusiasm, whilst also hoping to sign Queens Park Rangers striker Les Ferdinand shortly following Cole's departure.

Ferdinand signed for Newcastle that summer.

Cole spent six years with Manchester United and won nine trophies, including five Premier League titles and the Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in 1999.

As well as Manchester United and Newcastle United, Cole also played in the top division of English football for Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Sunderland, as well as in The Football League for Bristol City, Birmingham City, Burnley and Nottingham Forest.