Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English
football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a
left-back, most notably for
Arsenal and
Chelsea. Cole is considered by many critics and fellow professional players one of the best defenders of his generation, one of the greatest English players of all time as well as one of the greatest left-backs in the history of the sport. Born in
Stepney, London, Cole began his youth career at
Arsenal and made his full debut for the club in November 1999, going on to make 228 appearances and scoring nine goals for the North London club. With Arsenal he won two
Premier League titles, three
FA Cups, and was an integral member of the "
Invincibles" team of the 2003–04 season, who went the entire league season undefeated. Cole also made an appearance in Arsenal's first
UEFA Champions League final in
2006; the club lost 2–1 to
Barcelona.
In August 2006, after a protracted transfer saga, Cole completed a move to
rival club Chelsea, with whom he won further honours, including the Premier League in the
2009–10 season, four
FA Cups, one
Football League Cup and one
UEFA Champions League. He was released by Chelsea at the end of the
2013–14 season. With seven winners' medals, Cole has won the FA Cup more times than any other player in history, and is one of two players to have won the
Double with two clubs, along with
Nicolas Anelka.
Cole was an England international from 2001 to 2014, playing at the
2002,
2006 and
2010 World Cups, as well as
Euro 2004 and
Euro 2012. He was voted
England Player of the Year in 2010. When he retired from international football in 2014, he had won
107 caps, making him England's most-capped full-back.
Provided by Wikipedia