Joe Cole Calls Time on Career

Chelsea bring back the best memories for Cole

Following a fruitful 20 years in professional football, Joe Cole has announced his retirement from the game, online sportsbook news report. Since 1998 until today, he has played for a total of seven clubs on two continents that have seen him become a household name in the process.

“After 20 years as a professional, the time has come for me to hang up my boots,” said the former England international, before going on to highlight his impressive stats in the game. “716 professional games, 104 goals, for seven great clubs – West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Lille, Aston Villa, Coventry City and the Tampa Bay Rowdies – as well the honour of okaying for England. It has been a dream come true. All of it.”

Cole has recognized his time at Chelsea was the best in terms of winning silverware which gave him the chance to share the thrills of lifting trophies with his close ones. None of the other clubs he has played for have enabled him to clinch important titles, which makes his time with the Blues all the more special.

“Winning trophies with Chelsea was particularly special for me. Those memories will live with me forever, as will the chance I had to share them with my family.”

Plans for the future

As for what he plans on doing next, the London native plans on remaining in football, but in a managerial role instead of a more directorial seat at a board of a club. According to online sportsbooks in USA, during his three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rowdies (his final club), Cole was handed the opportunity to coach the side on several occasions, which, as he says, appealed to him a great deal and could see himself continuing in this direction.

“Looking to the future, I want to stay involved in the game,” highlighted Cole. “I feel I can offer a lot as a coach and have really enjoyed the opportunity to undertake some of these duties with the Rowdies.”

Along his two-decade long career that has seen him rack up over 700 appearances across five leagues and internationally for England, Cole’s greatest achievement in terms of silverware has to be his three Premier League titles (2004/05, 2005/06 and 2009/10), all of which were won with Chelsea.

On top of that, he has won two FA Cups (2006/07 and 2009/10), one Football League (2004/05), one Fa Community Shield (2005) and runners-up medal in the Champions League final (2007/08). The only club trophy that he has lifted with another club besides the Blues is the Intertoto Cup (1999) with West Ham.

Considering that Cole was at his peak during his seven-year spell with Chelsea, it’s safe to assume that the Stamford Bridge support will most fondly remember him out of all of the clubs he has played to; perhaps even more so than West Ham – a club where Cole played as a youth player and kicked off his career.