“I was left in the foetal position after taking snus on England duty, but I won’t say which player gave it to me!” Carlton Cole opens up on Three Lions dressing room prank

Carlton Cole
Carlton Cole won seven England caps (Image credit: Getty)

During his 16-year career, Carlton Cole worked his way up through the England national team youth levels and before making his senior debut in February 2009.

The former Chelsea and West Ham striker would go on to win seven caps over the next 13 months- all of which were from the substitutes bench, a feat unmatched at the time.

Carlton Cole on his England snus experience

UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 01: Chelsea's Carlton Cole and John Terry celebrate with the Premiership Trophy (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC Via Getty Images)

Cole alongside his club and country team-mate John Terry (Image credit: Getty Images)

Cole has never been shy in telling some of the more amusing stories from the Three Lions training ground, including the time that he was tricked into taking Viagra by Rooney and Jermain Defoe before training.

And it turns out that wasn’t the only amusing story from that period.

Carlton Cole of Chelsea, February 2006

Cole netted eight goals in 31 games for Chelsea (Image credit: Alamy)

“There's another one from my playing days,” Cole told 10Bet. “Some of the lads back then had this thing called snus. They said, “No, trust me, it's good for you.” I didn't even know it was tobacco. I just smelled it, it was minty. So I thought, I’ll have a go.

“I was in one of the rooms with some of the lads. They were all in there playing computer games. They said, “Coley, it can help settle you down.” I was like, oh, is it? I'll have a go. So I put this tea bag under my lip.

“One guy says, hold it there. I said, it's stinging. He goes, no, hold it there, it's just getting into your system, you're going to feel great afterwards.

“This is what I'm like, I try things I shouldn't be doing just because everyone else is doing it. After five minutes I started to feel a little bit… I'm not going to say who gave it to me.

“Then I started to feel a bit light-headed. I was thinking, oh, this is all right. Then I started to feel my stomach go.

West Ham United legend Carlton Cole speaks with Sky Sports during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and West Ham United at St Mary's Stadium on December 14, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Cole hung up his boots in 2017 (Image credit: Getty Images)

“I remember sliding off into the bathroom and going into gripping pain. My stomach was hurting. I was on the tiled floor in a foetal position. All from a snus. The lads were laughing their heads off!

“I’ve never touched snus since (laughs)!”

Joe Mewis

For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

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