Ashley Cole

Arsenal: 1999–2006

Cole started his career by joining his local club, Arsenal, whom he had supported as a child. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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. Cole had a very good season in 2004–05. He was a…

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, Andrew 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. After just four appearances for the Under-21s, Cole was fast-tracked into the England senior team and Sven-Göran Eriksson handed Cole his senior international debut against Albania, on 28 March 2001. He played for England at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups, UEFA Euro 2004 (where he was named as one of four England players in the all-star squad for the tournament) and UEFA Euro 2012. Cole was also an ever-present for England in the 2006 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 the team were knocked out on penalties by Portugal in the quarter-finals. By the end of 2008, Cole had achieved 68 caps for England, all of which were starting appearances. He made his 79th appearance for England on 12 June 2010 in the 1–1 draw against the United States in the 2010 World Cup Group stage match. He beat the record of 79 caps by a black English international (John Barnes, who appeared for England from 1983 to 1995) when he played against Algeria later that month. He has…

Cole's game incorporates an attacking approach to his play, which supports his teams' forward play. As a youth, he "always liked scoring goals and attacking", but grew to love the role of defending, as being a left-back was the only opportunity of breaking into the seniors. Prior to his inclusion in the Arsenal first team, Cole studied the conduct of fellow defender Nigel Winterburn to improve his play; Winterburn concurrently offered pointers to improve his positioning. He modelled his game on Brazilian Roberto Carlos: "He's got natural talent, but I think if you train hard enough you can be nearly as good as that." Liam Brady described Cole as a player with "great character and determination" and his former teammate Sylvinho noted that one of Cole's qualities was being competent: "Ashley does not need people saying, 'Do this' or 'Go there'. He knows, he knows." The rapid progress made by Cole in his debut season for Arsenal "surprised" Wenger and prompted him to make the defender his first pick. Sylvinho, the player displaced, commented that Wenger's belief in Cole helped him to develop as a player: "He spoke to [Cole] and said: 'After Silvinho you can play left-back. You are one of the best left-backs at the club and one day will be one of the best in the world.'" Cole's link-up play with winger Robert Pires and main striker Thierry Henry in a 4–4–2 formation effectively made him "a wing-back or winger playing in a back four" because Arsenal's game emphasised attacking…

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.