It may seem ridiculous now in an era of hundred-million-pound prices but when Andy Cole Joined Manchester United for a total fee of £7million on January 10, 1995 the transfer sent shockwaves throughout the footballing world and caused many to claim the game had gone mad.
In hindsight it seems like money well spent for a man who was born to score goals and lived up to his reputation as one of the deadliest marksmen of the 1990s, though at the time it was seen as something of a gamble by a manager who was overseeing a major overhaul of his side at the time.
In 1995 Manchester United were a side in transition. Having won back-to-back titles in 1993 and 1994, after they had gone 26 years without lifting English football’s major prize, they were quickly becoming the dominant force in the game; but huge investment from Jack Walker at Blackburn was beginning to pay dividends and his beloved Rovers were now in the ascendancy with their sights firmly locked on their Lancashire rivals from just 30 miles down the road.
Combine this with a number of stars who looked to have enjoyed better days and it’s no wonder that Alex Ferguson and his board felt the need to spend and spend big in an effort to fend off the challenge from the Premier League’s latest pretenders to their newly acquired throne.
Ironically the object of their desire would be plying his trade at another up-and-coming outfit who had recently arrived in the top flight and were wasting no time in letting everyone know they meant business in the big time.
Just three years earlier Newcastle United had avoided dropping into the old Third Division by the skin of their teeth, but a revitalised Magpies roared back into the top flight thanks to manager Kevin Keegan’s breathless brand of all-out attacking football.
A catalyst in this revival had been their star striker Andy Cole who had arrived in March, 1993, as a club record £1.75m signing from Bristol City via Arsenal at a time when owner Sir John Hall was splashing his cash to see his hometown side mix it with the big boys.
Cole’s impact was instant and his 12 goals in as many games fired Newcastle to the First Division title before cementing his place in the first-team with an incredible 34 goals in 40 games alongside Peter Beardsley back in the top flight.
Voted PFA young player of the year at the end of the 1993/94 season, Cole's stock was on the rise and it wasn’t long before he attracted the attention of the game’s even wealthier and more established clubs.
In almost every Premier League fixture Cole had an uncanny knack of finding the net. There was a spectacular hat-trick against Liverpool, then another against Coventry as the young striker quickly found himself being compared to Newcastle greats such as Hughie Gallacher, Jackie Milburn and Malcolm Macdonald as Cole struck no less than 41 goals in all competitions that season.
Though they didn’t know it at the time the St James’ Park faithful, who had instantly taken Cole to their hearts, were witnessing not just a blistering first season back in the top-flight from the youngster and his team mates but what would ultimately be his last, as the club finished third in their first season back to guarantee European for the first time since 1978.
But there was no sign of what was to come as Cole and Newcastle started the following season where they left off winning their first six league games and not tasting defeat until the end of October. There was even talk of a challenge for the league; but a dramatic slump in form would rob the “Toon Army” of a title bid, not to mention a phone call from Alex Ferguson to Kevin Keegan early in the New Year of 1995 enquiring about the services of the hottest property in English football.
United’s bid of £6 million in cash, plus the services of the young and exciting Keith Gillespie who would travel in the opposite direction, was too much for Newcastle to turn down and seemingly out of nowhere Andy Cole had become the most expensive signing in the history of British football to the shock and surprise of most people who follow the game.
"I wouldn't have gone to any other club than Manchester United,” claimed Cole as he was paraded in front of the world’s press while Kevin Keegan was forced to reason with angry supporters who had gathered outside St James’ Park to express their anger at the clubs best player being sold to a rival. "I've got to be allowed to manage," he told them. "If you think I'm making a mess of things then chant for me to go."
As fate would have it Newcastle’s first game following Cole’s departure was against Manchester United though ever respectful to the fans who had once worshipped him the striker chose not to play against his old club in his first game for his new side.
Cole’s new United only missed out on the title to the ever-ambitious Blackburn Rovers on a thrilling final day of that season, but he and his new employers would ultimately have the last laugh as together they went on to win the Premier League five times, including a thrilling battle with The Magpies during the 1995/96 season, not to mention two FA Cups and the Champions League in 1999.
The transfer was one of many high profile swoops during the early stages of the Premier League as a huge increase in TV money and a greater number of foreign stars playing in England changed the game forever. Even so, the magnitude of this move meant that to this day people still ask the question: “Where were you when you heard that Andy Cole had signed for Manchester United?”
