London - Former England striker Andrew Cole will retire from playing football and is eyeing a coaching career, according to news reports on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old left Nottingham Forest 11 days ago, furious at what he saw as a lack of opportunities to fulfil his dream of ending his career in a blaze of glory by inspiring his hometown club to promotion.

As it is, Forest are second bottom of the Championship, and Cole made just five league starts this season.

"It's not the ideal ending," Cole told The Times. "It just wasn't working out.

"I told them from the outset that I didn't want to go there to sit on the bench because I didn't want to be perceived as sitting back and making easy money.

"I wanted to go there and offer something, but it was a strange one from the start. I never knew what my role was.

"Was it to lend a hand, use my experience, or was it a PR thing, to sell a few more season tickets? I still don't know.

Cole began his career at Arsenal, before drifting through Fulham and Bristol City to Newcastle, where he shot to prominence as part of the Kevin Keegan side that won promotion to the Premier League.

He hit 55 goals in 69 league games for Newcastle, before making a 7 million pounds (10.93 million dollars) switch to Manchester United in December 1995.

There he scored 93 goals in 161 league appearances, culminating in the glorious treble winning season of 1999.

After five Premier League winner's medals, two FA Cups and a Champions League, Cole left United for Blackburn in December 2001, a decision he now calls "the biggest mistake I ever made."

He went on to Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Sunderland, totalling 187 goals, before dropping a level to join Burnley. Only Alan Shearer has scored more in the Premier League.

The 15-times capped Cole now hopes to move into coaching.

"I've all this experience," he said. "I don't want to keep it to myself. I want to give something back. I don't think it's the end of the Andrew Cole story. Hopefully it's a new chapter." (dpa)