EXCLUSIVE
Joe Cole has resurrected his career with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the United States as he uses the Florida lifestyle to get back into shape after a knee injury at Chelsea sent his career on a downward spiral.
The Rowdies are using Cole's name, along with their history as one of the country's oldest football clubs, to try and book their spot at the top level of football in the U.S.
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Major League Soccer are inviting four expansion teams to join the league, which currently has 22 active teams and one more expansion side, LAFC, confirmed to start play in 2018. Aiming to be one of those four new sides, the Rowdies, who currently play in the second-division USL, have readied their impressive bid which includes a huge expansion of their stadium.
The Rowdies were reborn in 2008 but they were originally founded in 1975 and won the NASL in their first season as a club. They once managed crowds of over 40,000 as people flocked to watch the likes of Pele at their stadium and are hoping to bring the glory days back to Tampa Bay.
Cole and the club's manager, Stuart Campbell, took part in a chat detailing life in the city and at the club.
