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 ...

who plays as a striker for EFL League One club Barnsley.

Early and personal life

Cole was born in

Alderley Edge Alderley Edge is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. In 2011, it had a population of 4,780. Alderley Edge is northwest of Macclesfield and south of Manchester, at the base of a steep and thickly wooded sandstone escarpment, Ald ...

on 10 May 1995. His father is the former

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

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 Briti ...

. 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 () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

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 football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the Dstv Premiership. United is known as ''Matsats ...

. 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 2013–1 ...

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 ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

in August 2014.

Loan to Barnsley

On 19 August 2014, Cole signed on loan for Barnsley until 5 January 2015. He made his professional debut the same day, appearing as a substitute in a

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

game away to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

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

Loan to Milton Keynes Dons

He 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 , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...

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 team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

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 currently manager of National League side Wrexham. Parkinson is the only manager to take an English fo ...

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

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

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. Since 2011, the first te ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

. 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 an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed ...

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 an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

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 compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home gro ...

in August 2018.

Loan to Motherwell

On 2 July 2019, Cole joined

on an initial six-month loan deal.

Doncaster Rovers

He was transferred to

side

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at T ...

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 he would sign for Barnsley on a three-year contract.

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 ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, 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 ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

, which England lost to a deflected 94th-minute strike that eliminated them from the final tournament.

Career statistics

Honours

Milton Keynes Dons *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Lea ...

runner-up: 2014–15

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Devante Living people 1995 births People from Alderley Edge Sportspeople from Cheshire Black British sportsmen English people of Jamaican descent English footballers England youth international footballers 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 Association football forwards