Shortly after starting his new role at Cobham, Cole sat down with the official Chelsea website to discuss his return to the club in a coaching capacity, his influences from past managers and how he plans to nurture the next generation of talent…

Having won eight major honours as a Blue at Stamford Bridge, cementing himself as one of the greatest defenders to play for the club, Cole called time on his glittering 20-year playing career by announcing his retirement this summer. His personal trophy cabinet boasts 13 winners medals in total, including a record seven FA Cups, as well as 107 England caps.



Now as Under-15 Academy coach, he will be working closely with the next generation of Chelsea youngsters and has already helped the team to their first piece of silverware this season in the national Premier League finals. For Cole, that is just the start of the road as he plots to achieve as much in the dugout as he did on the pitch.



‘I’ve started with the Under-15s and been back for two months now,’ the 38-year-old revealed. ‘I’m working predominantly with Frank O’Brien, who has been here for many years. He’s seen a lot of these players currently in the first team come through the ranks so he’s definitely been very influential so far.



‘The lead phase coach is Ian Howell and they have a lot of experience between them. They’ve worked with the younger age groups for many years so it’s definitely been good to be working with them. The first month was about being around the place, getting to know the players and understand them because they’re still kids.

