Devante Lavon Andrew Dewar-Cole (born 10 May 1995) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Early and personal life

Cole was born in

Alderley Edge Alderley Edge is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England, north-west of Macclesfield and south of Manchester. It lies at the base of a wooded sandstone escarpment, ''The Edge'', overlooking the Cheshire Plai ...

on 10 May 1995. His father is the former

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and England striker

Andy Cole Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Brit ...

. He has stated that he is a different type of player to his father, who played in the same position, and that he wants to make a name for himself. His paternal grandparents migrated to England from Jamaica in the 1960s; his grandfather worked as a miner.

Club career

Manchester City

Cole joined

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in April 2003, at the age of seven. He had previously spent a day training with city rivals

. His first involvement with the Manchester City first team came in July 2013 when he was selected for a pre-season friendly tour of South Africa, subsequently playing against

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional association football, football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the South African Premier Di ...

. Cole featured heavily in the

2013–14 UEFA Youth League The 2013–14 UEFA Youth League was the first season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA. It was contested by the under-19 youth teams of the 32 clubs qualified for the group stage of the 2013–14 ...

scoring 6 goals and finishing as the second highest scorer overall as Manchester City made a run to the quarter-final stage of the competition. He was linked with a loan move to Scottish club

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in August 2014.

Loan to Barnsley

On 19 August 2014, Cole signed on loan for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

until 5 January 2015. He made his professional debut the same day, appearing as a substitute in a

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

game away to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in his second appearance, a 4–1 home win over Gillingham.

Loan to Milton Keynes Dons

Cole moved on loan to

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

in January 2015.

Bradford City

On 28 August 2015, Cole signed for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

on a two-year deal, with the option of a third year, after being released by Manchester City. Bradford City manager

Phil Parkinson Philip John Parkinson (born 1 December 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of club Wrexham. Parkinson acquired a Social Science degree early into his career as a man ...

praised Cole's pace. Before signing for them, he had been on trial with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and had been linked with a transfer to both

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. Manchester City have retained a sell-on clause from the deal, believed to be 30%. Cole made his debut a day later, appearing as a substitute. He scored on his debut in the 4th minute of injury time to earn City a 1–0 victory. Cole's potential development was praised by City manager Phil Parkinson. New striker partner James Hanson also discussed their teamwork, and the improvement in Cole's all-round game was praised by manager Phil Parkinson in October 2015.

Fleetwood Town

Cole signed for

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

on 22 January 2016, for an undisclosed fee. He said he felt the new club suited him better than Bradford had done.

Wigan Athletic

Cole signed for

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

in January 2018. He moved on loan to

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

in August 2018.

Loan to Motherwell

On 2 July 2019, Cole joined

on an initial six-month loan deal.

Doncaster Rovers

Cole was transferred to

side

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

on 27 January 2020 on an initial deal until the end of the season. He was released by Doncaster at the end of the 2019–20 season.

Motherwell

On 2 October 2020, Cole returned to

on a contract until the end of the 2020–21 season.

Barnsley

On 8 June 2021, it was announced that Cole would sign for

on a three-year contract. Cole made his first appearance for the club in a 0–1 loss to Luton Town on 17 August. Cole scored his first goal for the club on 24 October in a 2–3 loss to rivals

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. On 5 August 2023, Cole scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 rout of

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

. He was released by Barnsley at the end of the 2023–24 season.

West Bromwich Albion

On 31 July 2024, Cole signed for

on a two-year contract. On 10 August, he made his debut for the club, as a substitute, in a 3-1 win against QPR in the league.

International career

Cole has represented England at under-16, under-17, under-18, and under-19 levels. Cole made his debut for the England under-19 team on 5 March 2014 in a friendly match against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, starting the game and scoring the opening goal. On 29 May 2014, he made a further appearance from the start in a European Championship elite qualification match against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, which England lost to a deflected 94th-minute strike that eliminated them from the final tournament. In November 2023, Cole was called up to the Jamaica national team for a set of

2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League The 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League was the third season of the CONCACAF Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF. The group stage was held in ...

matches.

Career statistics

Honours

Milton Keynes Dons *

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

second-place promotion: 2014–15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Devante Living people 1995 births People from Alderley Edge Footballers from Cheshire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Manchester City F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players England men's youth international footballers Black British sportsmen English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent West Bromwich Albion F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen