Carlton Cole

Cole began his career at Chelsea in 2001, spending spells out on loan at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa before being transferred to West Ham United in 2006.

[9] He suffered a hairline fracture in his leg in August but returned to action in a League Cup tie against Gillingham on 6 November, scoring both Chelsea goals in a 2–1 home win in the third round.

[18] After the club's purchase by billionaire Roman Abramovich led to the signings of international strikers Adrian Mutu and Hernán Crespo, Cole went to Charlton Athletic on a season-long loan in August.

Despite Charlton being keen to retain Cole's services for the 2004–05 season,[20] he joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan in July 2004.

[8] He joined West Ham United in July 2006,[28] having made a total of 31 league and cup appearances for Chelsea, scoring eight goals.

[28] He scored seconds into his competitive debut for West Ham after coming on as a substitute in injury time to seal a 3–1 home win against Charlton on 19 August.

[30] On 26 October 2008, Cole received his first red card of his West Ham career against Arsenal, with a foul on Alex Song at Upton Park.

[citation needed] He scored ten Premier League goals, including one penalty in the 5–3 home win over Burnley on 28 November.

[49] On 19 May 2012, Cole scored the first goal, his 15th of the season, in West Ham's 2–1 win over Blackpool in the play-off final, ensuring an immediate return to the Premier League.

[51] Cole's first goal of the 2012–13 season came in a 3–1 victory against London rivals Chelsea on 1 December 2012, with a header inside the six-yard box to the near post.

[56] On 3 September 2013, after West Ham failed with a number of bids for strikers at the end of the transfer window, they approached Cole about returning to the club.

[65] His only other goals of the season came in a 3–1 away win at Burnley on 10 October and in a 2–2 home FA Cup draw against Everton on 13 January 2015, equalising in the 113th minute to make the match 2–2.

[69] Following his release, after nine years with West Ham, Cole stated his intention to seek at least three more seasons playing at the top-level of football.

[71] On 10 January 2016, he scored his only goal for Celtic in a 3–0 win over Stranraer at Stair Park, in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

[78] Cole was handed a trial by AFC Wimbledon in the beginning of January 2018 and immediately played for their development squad, where he scored a goal in his first game.

[79] According to the club's manager, Neal Ardley "Carlton's agent spoke to Simon Bassey [first-team coach] and asked about him coming in.

[85] In December 2018, Cole rejoined West Ham United to work with the club's academy players, providing support to under-18 coaches Jack Collison and Mark Phillips.

[86] In April 2011, Cole was fined £20,000 by The Football Association for comments he made on Twitter regarding England's friendly against Ghana, at Wembley Stadium the previous month, joking that the match was being used as a sting operation by immigration authorities.

[87] Cole was again charged by The Football Association in March 2015, when in response to a Tottenham fan taunting him on Twitter by asking whether he would consider retirement, he replied "Fuck off you cunt".

[89] On 28 November 2021, Cole and BBC Radio 5 Live apologised when he compared a possible overwhelming attack by Manchester City Football Club as a holocaust for their opponents.

[90] Cole accepted the offer to play in Indonesia as it was close to Malaysia, and his wife, Sofea, had returned there to live, in Kuala Lumpur.

[citation needed] Since retiring, Cole has been a pundit for talkSPORT, currently co-hosting Friday evening show The Sports Bar Weekender.

Cole playing for West Ham United in 2008
Cole signing autographs in 2010
Cole playing for West Ham United in 2010
Cole playing for West Ham United in 2014