As a player, he was a striker from 1982 until 2001, notably playing in the top flight of English football for West Ham United, Everton and Leicester City.

[2][1] Born in Forest Gate,[3] London, Cottee began his career at West Ham, where he made his first team debut in the First Division against Tottenham Hotspur on 1 January 1983, at the age of 17, scoring in the process.

However, Frank McAvennie alongside him could only manage seven league goals that season and this contributed to a downturn in West Ham's form as they finished 15th.

[5] Cottee briefly became the most expensive player to be signed by a British club when on 2 August 1988 he joined Everton in a £2.2 million deal (a fee eclipsed by Ian Rush's return to Liverpool from Juventus later that month).

He made his Everton debut on 27 August 1988, the opening day of the 1988–89 First Division campaign, in a 4–0 home win over Newcastle United in which he scored a hat-trick.

[6][7] Cottee spent his first season at Goodison Park playing alongside Graeme Sharp, but for 1989–90 manager Colin Harvey changed the formation to 4–3–3 and brought in Mike Newell as Everton's third striker.

Everton's form improved under Kendall and they finished ninth, also reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals and ousting Liverpool in the fifth round after two replays; Cottee was Everton's saviour in the first replay on 21 February as he scored a late equaliser which forced a 4–4 draw in Liverpool's last game before the resignation of manager Kenny Dalglish the following day.

By mid November he had two new strike partners in Peter Beardsley and Mo Johnston following the sale of both Graeme Sharp and Mike Newell, and while the revamped forward line was reasonably productive, the rest of the team struggled to match their standards.

[9] New manager Mike Walker, who arrived in January 1994, promised an overhaul of the squad and Cottee was soon being linked with a move back to his beloved West Ham.

He returned to West Ham United on 7 September 1994 in a part exchange deal for defender David Burrows plus cash.

He had played 184 league games in six years for the Toffees, scoring 76 goals, but had not won any major trophies, and Everton had never finished higher than sixth during his time there.

[11] In the semi-final of the 1998–99 Football League Cup against Sunderland Cottee scored three goals across the two legs (two in the first and one in the second) to help Leicester win 3–2 on aggregate.

After winning his first game with the club 7–0 vs Blackpool, Barnet hit a run of poor form which left them facing relegation from the Football League.

[20][21] He is currently a commentator with Sky Sports and occasional pundit for Malaysian network Astro, appearing on its 2010 World Cup and Premier League studio coverage in Kuala Lumpur.