Ashley Cole

He scored his second goal in a 3–1 away win to Aston Villa, scoring Arsenal's third in only the 28th minute.

Cole was found guilty of making contact with league rivals Chelsea over a possible move, without informing Arsenal.

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 as 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.

At the age of 18, on 30 November 1999, he made his first team debut in the League Cup fourth round against Middlesbrough; Arsenal lost 1–3 on penalties after the match ended 2–2 at the end of extra time at the Riverside Stadium.

Before he fully broke into the Arsenal side, he spent part of the 1999–2000 season on loan at Crystal Palace, where he played 14 league matches and scored one goal, a long-range half-volley against Blackburn Rovers.

On 25 February 2000, he signed his first professional contract.

His Premier League debut came on 14 May 2000 against Newcastle United, as part of an experimental side that lost 4–2 away on the final day of the season.

When Sylvinho, Arsenal's established left-back, suffered an injury in the autumn of the 2000–01 season, Cole took the opportunity to establish himself in the first team and remained first-choice even after the Brazilian's recovery.

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.

With Arsenal, he won the FA Premier League twice (in 2002 and 2004), and the FA Cup three times (in 2002, 2003 and 2005, scoring in the penalty shootout in the final of the latter).

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 had a very good season in 2004–05.

He was a regular at left-back for both England and Arsenal despite Gaël Clichy's claim for a place in the first team squad.

Cole scored his first goal of the season in the seventh game in a tough trip to Manchester City in which he scored the opening and only goal to give Arsenal an important win.

Although injured for much of the 2005–06 season, he recovered in time to play in Arsenal's UEFA Champions League final defeat to Barcelona at the end of the season.

In total he made 228 first-team appearances for the Gunners, scoring nine goals.

He was fined £100,000 by the Premier League on 2 June 2005 for a tapping-up meeting at a hotel in January 2005.

Cole, his agent Jonathan Barnett, the Chelsea manager José Mourinho and chief executive Peter Kenyon, and agent Pini Zahavi were present at the meeting.

An appeal in August 2005 did not reject the guilty verdict, but his fine was reduced to £75,000.

Chelsea were also fined £300,000 and Mourinho was fined £200,000, reduced on appeal in August 2005 to £75,000.

Barnett's licence was suspended for 18 months and he was also fined £100,000.

On 18 July 2005, Cole signed a one-year extension to his contract with Arsenal, but just a year later departed from the club in acrimonious circumstances.

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.

On 15 July 2006, Cole launched a verbal attack on Arsenal; in his autobiography, he claimed that the Arsenal board had treated him as a "scapegoat" and that they had "fed him to the sharks" over the tapping-up affair while Arsenal, from their part, insisted that they were legally obliged to punish Cole for his illegal contact with Chelsea.

Cole was deliberately left out of Arsenal's 2006–07 team photograph, fuelling press speculation that he would leave.

On 28 July 2006, Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein confirmed that Arsenal and Chelsea had been in "civil talks" about the player.

Chelsea insisted they would not raise their £16 million bid for Cole, but Arsenal held out for at a higher valuation of £25 million.

Negotiations continued throughout August and looked to be heading for deadlock, but eventually Cole signed for Chelsea on 31 August for a fee of £5 million, with William Gallas being transferred from Chelsea to Arsenal as part of the same deal.

He was voted England Player of the Year in 2010.

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.

When he retired from international football in 2014, he had won 107 caps, making him England's most-capped full-back.

Cole's father, Ron Callender, is from Barbados.

He left the family after seven years of marriage and later moved to Australia.

Cole and his younger brother Matthew were brought up by their mother Sue Cole, going to Bow School in Tower Hamlets.

Cole started his career by joining his local club, Arsenal, whom he had supported as a child.