Ashley Cole

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Ashley Cole
Personal information
Full name Ashley Cole
Date of birth 20 December 1980 (1980-12-20) (age 27)
Place of birth    Stepney, London, England
Height 5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m)
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current club Chelsea
Number 3
Youth clubs
1997–1999 Arsenal
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1999–2006
2000
2006– 		Arsenal
→ Crystal Palace (loan)
Chelsea 		156 (8)
014 (1)
036 (0)   
National team2
2001
2006
2001– 		England U21
England B
England 		004 (1)
001 (0)
061 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 13:52, 24 December 2007 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 16:17, 13 October, 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980, Stepney, London) is an English footballer of Barbadian descent. Cole plays left back for Chelsea and for the England national team, a position from which he often uses his pace to try and support the forward players.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] Arsenal

He started his career at his local club Arsenal as a teenager. He signed as a professional on 25 February 2000. He had made his debut for the first team as a striker on 30 November 1999 against Middlesbrough at the age of 18, his Premier League debut for Arsenal came on 14 May 2000 against Newcastle. 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. After an injury to Sylvinho, Arsenal's established Brazilian left-back, in autumn 2000, Cole came on as his replacement, and remained first-choice even after Sylvinho's recovery.

With Arsenal, he won the Premier League twice (in 2002 and 2004), and the FA Cup three times (in 2002, 2003 and 2005). 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 Arsenal, scoring 9 goals.

[edit] Transfer saga

In 2005, Cole made inappropriate contact with league rivals Chelsea over a possible move, without alerting Arsenal to the fact, in a case of "tapping-up". Found guilty, he was fined £100,000 by the Premier League on 2 June 2005 for a meeting in a hotel in January 2005 between himself, the Chelsea manager José Mourinho, Chelsea chief executive, Peter Kenyon, and his agent Jonathan Barnett. 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 license was suspended for 18 months and he was also fined £100,000.[1]

Cole signed a one year extension to his contract on 18 July 2005, but a year later departed from the club in acrimonious circumstances. On 15 July 2006, Cole launched a verbal attack on Arsenal; in his autobiography, quoted in The Sun, Cole 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.[2] Cole was deliberately left out of Arsenal's 2006–07 team photograph,[3] refuelling press speculation that he would become a Chelsea player.

On 28 July, Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein had confirmed that Arsenal and Chelsea had been in "civil talks" about the player.[4] Chelsea insisted they would not raise their £16million bid for the left back, but Arsenal held out for at a higher valuation of £25million.[5] Negotiations continued throughout August and looked to be heading for deadlock, but eventually Cole signed for Chelsea on August 31 for a fee of £5million, with William Gallas also going the other way. The deal was closed after the transfer window had officially ended, and was not confirmed until an hour and a half after the deadline had passed.[6]

Cole was villified by Arsenal fans following his decision to leave the club, with many alleging that he had moved to Chelsea all for the sake of a higher wage. This led to some fans giving him the nickname "Cashley Cole".

[edit] Chelsea

Image:Ashleycole.jpg
Ashley Cole

Cole was given the number 3 shirt at Chelsea, and made his first appearance for the club as a substitute for Wayne Bridge in their 2–1 win over Charlton Athletic on 9 September. He also issued a public statement saying he forgave Arsenal for how he felt he was treated during his time there. However, he was not forgiven by Arsenal's fans, as they dubbed him "Cashley" and waved fake £20 notes with his face when Chelsea met Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on 12 December.[7]

On 31 January, 2007, Cole suffered a serious knee injury in the 3–0 victory over Blackburn Rovers in a Premier League game at Stamford Bridge, although after a scan it was revealed to be not as bad as first thought, with Chelsea optimistic that he would return before the end of the 2006–07 season.[8] Cole did indeed make a return at the end of the season, playing in the last twelve minutes of the 2007 FA Cup Final at the new Wembley Stadium against Manchester United, although initial reports said that Jose Mourinho had dropped him from the final.[9]

Recently, for Chelsea FC, he has found himself replaced by Wayne Bridge, and in the last match against Fulham FC, Cole did not even make the bench. This is rather strange as Cole is the preffered Left-back, for the England National team.

[edit] International career

Cole has played for England at youth and senior levels. He was capped for the England U-20 team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside Stuart Taylor, Peter Crouch, Andy Johnson and Matthew Etherington. However, the team finished bottom of their group, suffering three defeats without scoring any goals. He also made four appearances for England under-21s, scoring once.

Cole made his senior England début against Albania, on March 28, 2001. He played for England at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004, and was named as one of four England players in the all-star squad for the latter tournament. Cole was also an ever-present for England in the 2006 FIFA World Cup; in their second round match against Ecuador he made a crucial block, deflecting Carlos Tenorio's shot onto the crossbar. The match ended with England winning 1–0, but England were knocked out on penalties by Portugal in the quarter-finals. As of September 12, 2007, he has 60 caps for England, though he has never scored an international goal.

[edit] Personal

In 2006, Cole sued the News of the World and The Sun newspapers for libel after they printed reports of a Premiership footballer and a music DJ engaged in a "homosexual orgy",[10] even though Cole was not specifically named in any of the stories; however, a pixellated photograph of Cole with his likeness removed was printed. Both the News of the World and The Sun later retracted the allegations after legal pressure and paid an undisclosed amount of damages to Cole.[11]

Cole has recently released an autobiography, My Defence, which sold only 4,000 copies in the first six months of release.[12] Cole's book was subject to criticism from his former team-mate Jens Lehmann;[13] at the same time, Arsenal fans launched a campaign on the world wide web encouraging people to purchase a book by former Arsenal player Perry Groves, in an attempt to outsell Cole's.[14]

He recently discovered he is a distant cousin of the pop star Mariah Carey. [15]

Since 15 July 2006, he has been married to Girls Aloud pop star Cheryl Tweedy. They had been engaged since September 2004, and their relationship has attracted a great deal of media attention.

[edit] Career stats

As of 27 May 2007
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Crystal Palace (loan) 1999–00 141?----141
Arsenal 1999–00 1--1---2-
2000–01 173?7---243
2001–02 29234-7-402
2002–03 31154-9-441
2003–04 33-36-91471
2004–05 35214-8-472
2005–06 11--1-3-15-
Chelsea 2006–07 23-28-9-40-
Total 19491435-451 27310

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cole's agent handed FA suspension. BBC Sport.
  2. ^ "Gunners fed me to sharks", The Sun. Retrieved on 2006-11-15. 
  3. ^ Abramovich ready to dictate terms of Cole's Chelsea move. The Guardian (2006-08-11). Retrieved on 2006-11-15.
  4. ^ Arsenal drive hard bargain with Chelsea over £30m Cole. The Guardian.
  5. ^ Gunners Battle for Cole Cash. The Mirror.
  6. ^ Transfer Deadline Day. BBC Sport.
  7. ^ "Dud notes for Ashley", The Sun, 2006-12-06. 
  8. ^ "Cole injury fears eased", Metro, 2007-02-02. 
  9. ^ "Cole "dropped for final"", Eurosports, 2007-19-05. 
  10. ^ "Cole sues over tabloid ‘gay orgy’ stories", Press Gazette, 2006-03-02. 
  11. ^ "Ashley Cole wins libel damages", The Times, 2006-06-26. 
  12. ^ "Inflated & talentless (not you, Jordan, you're worth it)", The Independent, 2006-11-05. 
  13. ^ "Lehmann lampoons Cole over autobiography", Soccernet, 2006-12-07. 
  14. ^ Let's make Perry Groves better than Ashley Cole. Arseblog.
  15. ^ I prayed for Nat King Cole, I got Ashley instead.. dailystar.

[edit] External links

Image:Commons-logo.svg
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Ashley Cole
v • d • e
Chelsea F.C. – current squad

1 Čech • 3 A. Cole • 4 Makélélé • 5 Essien • 6 Carvalho • 7 Shevchenko • 8 Lampard • 9 Sidwell • 10 J. Cole • 11 Drogba • 12 Mikel • 13 Ballack • 14 Pizarro • 15 Malouda • 17 Sinclair • 18 Bridge • 20 Ferreira • 21 Kalou • 22 Ben Haim • 23 Cudicini • 24 Wright-Phillips • 26 Terry • 33 Alex • 35 Belletti • 40 Hilário • 42 Sawyer • 46 Smith • 48 Woods • 51 Hutchinson • Manager: Grant

v • d • e
England squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Robinson • 2 Neville • 3 A. Cole • 4 Gerrard • 5 Ferdinand • 6 Terry • 7 Beckham • 8 Lampard • 9 Rooney • 10 Owen • 11 J. Cole • 12 Campbell • 13 James • 14 Bridge • 15 Carragher • 16 Hargreaves • 17 Jenas • 18 Carrick • 19 Lennon • 20 Downing • 21 Crouch • 22 Carson • 23 Walcott • Coach: Eriksson
Image:Flag of England.svg
v • d • e
England squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Seaman • 2 Mills • 3 A. Cole • 4 Sinclair • 5 Ferdinand • 6 Campbell • 7 Beckham • 8 Scholes • 9 Fowler • 10 Owen • 11 Heskey • 12 Brown • 13 Martyn • 14 Bridge • 15 Keown • 16 Southgate • 17 Sheringham • 18 Hargreaves • 19 J. Cole • 20 Vassell • 21 Butt • 22 James • 23 Dyer • Coach: Eriksson
Image:Flag of England.svg
Persondata
NAME Cole, Ashley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cole, Cashley
SHORT DESCRIPTION Professional football player
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Whitechapel, London, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
ar:أشلي كول

bn:অ্যাশলি কোল be-x-old:Эшлі Коўл cs:Ashley Cole cy:Ashley Cole de:Ashley Cole et:Ashley Cole es:Ashley Cole fr:Ashley Cole ga:Ashley Cole ko:애쉴리 콜 id:Ashley Cole it:Ashley Cole he:אשלי קול lt:Ashley Cole hu:Ashley Cole mr:ऍशली कोल nl:Ashley Cole ja:アシュリー・コール no:Ashley Cole pl:Ashley Cole pt:Ashley Cole ru:Коул, Эшли sk:Ashley Cole fi:Ashley Cole sv:Ashley Cole tr:Ashley Cole zh:阿什利·科尔

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