The Upton Park stadium announcer declared to the West Ham United supporters they would tell their grandchildren about the day they saw Joe Cole sign his first professional contract on the pitch.

It was Cole’s 17th birthday, November 8, 1998, at half-time in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea and just over 20 years on the former midfielder said: “Incredible, isn’t it? It’s incredible to look back. The more time passes, you look back and think ‘what was everyone thinking?’ What were they thinking? There was no concern for the lad, the kid.”

Having retired from playing in November last year, Cole, now 37, is working three days a week at the Chelsea Academy and the wonderkids of this generation will certainly benefit from listening to the ultimate teenage prodigy.

Cole insists he thought nothing of the attention at the time, perhaps because he had already accepted that his life and career would be one lived in the spotlight two years before signing his first senior deal with West Ham.

“When I was 15, I woke up one Sunday morning and I was on the back page of a newspaper saying that I earned more than the Prime Minister,” said Cole. “It said I was on £5,000 a week and I wasn’t. I went into school and from the Monday people’s attitudes changed towards me – teachers, other kids, everyone.