Chelsea star Cole Palmer made an impact from the bench in England’s Euro 2024 victory over Slovakia, prompting calls for him to start in the quarter-final against Switzerland
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England’s Cole Palmer was just four years old when his sublime skills caught the eye of his junior football coach. And Graeme Fowler had no doubt the exceptional little boy turning out for NJ Wythenshawe was destined for the top.
He said: “He was brilliant as a kid. He was dead polite, respectful, he just loved playing football. He was four years old when he came to us. The rest of them were six so we had to get special permission to get him to play against other teams, his dad had to sign a consent form.
“He was just so good we couldn’t not play him. When I first saw him, it was his ball control I noticed. At that age they are just learning ball skills but Cole already had it. It was his first touch and the way he moved with the ball – you knew he was going to make it, I always said it from day one.”
Palmer made a huge impact as a substitute during England’s 2-1 victory over Slovakia on Sunday. And it has led to a clamour for the Chelsea star to start the quarter-final clash with Switzerland on Saturday.
Born in Wythenshawe and raised by his mum Marie and dad Jermaine, with two older sisters, Cole was taught to celebrate his Caribbean heritage. He once told how he honours his grandad Sterry’s home country, by donning the St Kitts and Nevis flag on his boots.
It’s “a little tribute to him and his family” he told the Players Tribune in 2022. A student of St Bede’s College in Whalley Range, Manchester, Cole missed the year group that produced fellow Premier League stars Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho by just two years.
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Last season he scored 22 times and laid on a further 11 goals for Chelsea, meaning he had 33 goal involvements in 34 league appearances. Growing up, his desire to play football was so strong, ex-coach Graeme said he’d often get distracted on the way home by a group of kids having a kick around and get involved.
“He always wanted to be a footballer, he just wanted to play football all the time. He just did bits of magic on the pitch. He could see things in the blink of an eye before anyone else.
“I’ll never forget one match when he was about seven. The ball bounced in front of Cole and he bounced it over the defender’s head and volleyed it straight into the corner of the net. We had a really good striker at the time who was open, but what Cole had seen that no one else had was the goalie had come out of his net to mark this striker and the goal was open.
“He wasn’t as big physically because he was a year younger but he was clever, he had the brains for it, he was always two steps ahead of everyone else. It was hard not to notice it, he had every scout after him.”
Four years after Cole joined Graeme’s team, the big clubs had heard the whispers about what this nimble youngster with a buzz cut could do. At the age of eight, he had the choice to train with Manchester City ’s academy or that of his beloved club, Manchester United.
Despite following the Red Devils he went off to the Etihad as City’s programme promised him more time doing simply what he loved – playing. But it meant he couldn’t carry on with his mates at NJ Wythenshawe any more, for risk of injury.
That junior football team was disbanded around five years ago, but when Cole returns to Wythenshawe to see friends and family, he always pays a special visit to the kids at Wythenshawe Juniors FC. Graeme said: “The kids are obviously all clambering around him for an autograph every time he comes back home, and for some people that would get annoying. But he always makes the time because he knows he is a role model.
“There’s a lot of kids that can get distracted by other things in Wythenshawe and end up on the wrong path. Cole never gave up on his dream, but he sacrificed so much to get there and he wants to show other kids they can do that too. He’s a quiet and very humble person, he still speaks to all the people he used to speak to and he never forgets his roots.”
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