West Ham striker, England international, and one of Upton Park's most loyal servants
FootballCarlton Cole is the kind of footballer East London claims as one of its own, even though he was born in Croydon and came through at Chelsea.
Cole joined Chelsea as a teenager and broke into the first team under Claudio Ranieri before a run of loan spells took him to Wolves, Charlton and Aston Villa. The move that defined the rest of his career was the 2006 transfer to West Ham, where he spent the best part of a decade as the focal point of the attack. Tall, strong, surprisingly deft in tight areas, and gifted with the kind of hold-up play that made midfielders around him look cleverer than they were. Upton Park took to him immediately, and he rewarded the faith with 47 goals in over 200 appearances for the club.
The England caps arrived during his West Ham years: seven appearances between 2009 and 2010. He was part of the exciting West Ham side that powered through the Championship play-offs in 2012 to return to the Premier League, providing exactly the physicality and presence up front that the campaign demanded.
Since retiring he has moved into punditry and coaching work with the West Ham academy, where the stories from the dressing rooms of the Premier League era find a receptive audience.
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