Born Joseph 'Joe' John Cole on the 8th of November 1981 in Islington, London. Joe is presently a professional footballer who plays in the midfield for Chelsea of the English Premier League and the England National team.
Cole was identified at an early age as something special and was a product of the West Ham United youth system, he was touted as the hottest prospect in English football with Manchester United reportedly offering to pay £10 million for him as a 16-year-old. His style was likened to former England favourite Paul Gascoigne, he quickly progressed through the West Ham ranks before making his first-team debut at the age of 17. Joe Cole was also part of West Ham's victorious Youth Cup winning squad that defeated Coventry City in 1999. In January 2003 Glenn Roeder, the then West Ham manager gave Cole the club captain's armband at the age of 19. Unfortunately for Cole and West Ham, the club was relegated at the end of that season from the Premiership.
Cole joined Chelsea in 2003 for a fee of £6.6 million, but he did not feature much in a Chelsea shirt over the first couple of seasons. This all changed in 2005 when he ended the season in the PFA's team of the season. He suffered injuries during 2006 and 2007 which curtailed some of his playing time, but he did feature in Chelsea's FA Cup win against Manchester United.
