Carlton Cole is a professional footballer who plays as a striker. He was born on November 12, 1983 in Croydon, England and has a Nigerian and Sierra Leonean origin through his parents. He played regularly for the England Under-21(U-21) side, for which he had played 19 games scoring 6 goals, including a brace in the 3-1 win over the Ukrainian side in August 2004. Peter Taylor, the then England U-21 manager, claimed that Carlton Cole has the potential to make it into the full England squad.
Carlton Cole started his career with Chelsea in 2001 as a trainee and in April 2002, he made his debut as a substitute in the 3-0 win over Everton. Three weeks later he made his first start for the club, scoring a goal in a victory against Middlesbrough. He began the 2002-03 season as a first-team player, and added one more in the opening game of the season to the one scored in a pre-season friendly. He also scored a brace in a Worthington Cup tie against Gillingham in November. Claudio Ranieri, the then manager of Chelsea, described Carlton Cole as the best young player that he had ever coached and added that Carlton Cole has a big future at Chelsea. However in November 2002, Carlton Cole was loaned out to Wolverhampton Wanderers, for which he made seven appearances with one goal to his credit before returning to Chelsea in January 2003. He further played 12 games for Chelsea in the same season in addition to the 4 games that he played before being loaned to Wolverhampton Wanderers. He ended the season with a tally of six goals for Chelsea, including a winner against Bolton Wanderers in April 2003.
In the summer of 2003, Carlton Cole signed a new six-year contract with Chelsea and soon was loaned out to Charlton Athletic for the 2003-04 season. He appeared in 22 games for it, earning five goals to his credit and helped his team secure the seventh place in the Premiership. The next season, he joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan and made 30 appearances scoring three goals, including a goal against Southampton in August 2004 on his debut for the club. Carlton Cole returned to Chelsea in the summer of 2005 and in the 2005-06 season, when Chelsea was crowned the Premier League Champions, he played 12 games. He also scored a goal in Chelsea’s Football Association (FA) Cup win over Huddersfield that season.
In July 2006, Carlton Cole was signed by West Ham United on a four-year deal for an undisclosed transfer fee. In August 2006, he scored a goal for West Ham United on his debut for the after coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 win over Charlton Athletic. In his first season with the club, Carlton Cole made 23 appearances, scoring three goals besides helping his team secure its Premier League place on the final day.
