""I made my first-team debut for West Ham in 1999, then won the FA Youth Cup in the final, we beat Coventry 9-0 on aggregate," Cole tells FourFourTwo. "Back then, the Youth Cup was the be all and end all, and to win it with my mates, the lads I'd been playing with since I was 12 or 13, it was really special."
""At 21, I was made captain of West Ham, which was a massive privilege as a young man. It was a difficult time for the club because we were stuck in a relegation battle, and ended up going down on 42 points, remarkably." The Hammers were relegated along with Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion. Bolton Wanderers' total off 44 points was the lowest of that season to survive. Cole carried the weight of that season with him for some time."
Joe Cole emerged from West Ham as a highly regarded young player, making his first-team debut in 1999 and winning the FA Youth Cup with his long-term teammates. He scored his first Premier League goal in a dramatic 5-4 win over Bradford, then suffered a broken leg in April that jeopardised a possible place at Euro 2000. At 21 he was made West Ham captain during a difficult relegation battle that ended with the club going down on 42 points. The relegation and its context — including the squad's youth — remained a burden for him afterward.
Read at www.fourfourtwo.com
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