It was clear from an early age that Joe Cole had that X-factor.
Before he knuckled down at West Ham and burst onto the Premier League scene and made his Premier League debut at the age of 17, Cole’s early years saw him juggling trials and attracting the attention of the biggest clubs in the country.
A chaotic, but formative time saw the young hopeful impressing scouts and turning out for clubs across London and even led to a surreal intervention by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Cole on his Sir Alex Ferguson invitation
“I’d go for trials at Arsenal, Millwall, Spurs, Chelsea and West Ham,” Cole tells FourFourTwo. “On a Tuesday night I’d be going to train at West Ham, on the Wednesday, I’d be at Tottenham or Arsenal.
“Really quickly, I went from playing no organised football at all to playing with all the best kids in London at these academies. I found that I could handle myself, and I was very aware that I was a different type of player to a lot of the others.”
And it was during this whirlwind of activity that the young Cole was soon offered some unique opportunities.
“Sometimes I’d get tickets to watch Tottenham or Arsenal, and I was still only 12 when Alex Ferguson phoned me, after I’d been up to Manchester United for a trial,” Cole adds.
“That’s why Ferguson was the greatest – he was trying to compete for Premier League titles with his team, but he always had one eye on the next generation.
“I’m not saying I was unique, there were probably other talented players around the country who got offers to go up there, but he rang and asked if I wanted to walk the Manchester United team out for the 1994 FA Cup final at Wembley. They were playing Chelsea, the team I supported.
“By then though, I’d already made my mind up to sign for West Ham, and my dad was very much like, “You don’t lead them on.”
“I was a kid and was like, “It would be pretty cool though, dad?” But he said, “No, you don’t take something when you know you’re not going to go there.”
“So I didn’t do it, although I was at the game in the end, as I managed to get some tickets another way. That was a great day for Manchester United, but not so good for Chelsea. In the end United won it 4-0.”
Joe Cole’s memoir Luxury Player is on sale now, published by Seven Dials
