Background
Cole was born in Woolston, Southampton and was educated firstly at Sholing School and then at Taunton"s School in Shirley, Southampton.
Cole was born in Woolston, Southampton and was educated firstly at Sholing School and then at Taunton"s School in Shirley, Southampton.
He played football for both schools as well as the local Itchen Sports, before joining the works team from the Thornycroft shipbuilding works at Woolston. From there he joined the Isle of Wight side, Newport, before signing as an amateur for Southampton, then playing in the Football League Second Division, in August 1932, aged 18. His professional contract came a few months later and after starring in the reserves, he made his first-team debut on 30 December 1933, when he took Ted Drake"s place at centre-forward in a 2–2 draw at Bradford City.
When top-scorer Drake was sold to Arsenal in March 1934, the "Saints" forward line was rather depleted – despite receiving a record fee of £6,000 for Drake, Southampton"s finances were such that manager George Kay was not able to purchase a replacement an, as a result, Cole was promoted from the reserves.
The local press described Cole as "big, strong and ruddy of hair" and "vigorous and fast" and at first it seemed that Cole was going to be an adequate replacement for Drake, scoring twice in his first five matches followed by a hat-trick in a 3–2 victory over West Ham United on 7 April 1934. In the 1934-1935 season, both Cole and the whole Saints" team struggled in front of goal, with the team totalling only 46 goals from 42 league games, with Cole ending the season as top scorer in the league with only eight goals from 24 appearances.
At the end of February, Cole was dropped by manager Kay, who completely re-shuffled his side in an effort to avoid relegation, with Johnny McIlwaine being moved forward. Kay"s plan was successful, with Saints winning four of the last eleven matches and avoiding relegation by eight points.
In the summer of 1935, Cole was transferred to Norwich City where he made only one appearance before retiring from professional football.
In 1936, Cole returned to Southampton and took up employment with the Southern Railway in Southampton Docks as an engineer He later worked for Follands at Hamble. He was first married to Kathleen and had four children.
Son - David Cole
Grandson - Anthony Charles Cole
Grandson - Phillip David Cole
Son - Anthony Brian Cole
Grandson - Edward George Cole
Grandson - Benjamin Charles Cole
Son - Peter Cole
Grandson - Paul Cole
Son - Michael Cole
Granddaughter - Allison Cole
Grandson - Richard Cole
Grandson - Mark Cole
Son - Raymond Philip cole
Grandson - Andrew Cole
Grandson - Daniel Cole
Grandson - James Cole
Granddaughter - Katie Cole
Son - Christoper Cole
Granddaughter - Jodie Cole
Grandson - Mitchell Cole
Son - William Cole
Son - Stephen Cole.