Ashley Cole is a professional footballer, who was born on December 20, 1980 in Stepney, England. He plays as a defender in the left-back position and idolizes David Roecastle, an English footballer. He is married to Cheryl Tweedy, a Girls Aloud singer
Ashley Cole earned his cap for the England Under-20 national team at the 1999 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Youth Championship and has also represented the U-21 team in four matches. On March 28, 2001, Ashley Cole made his debut as a senior player in the national team against Albania and was also a part of England national team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. His name was included in the list of all-star squad for the 2004 Euro. Ashley Cole made his presence felt in the second round winning match against Ecuador at the 2006 FIFA World Cup by making a vital block. As of September 10, 2008, he has won 67 caps for the England national senior team.
Ashley Cole kicked off his career as a youth player at his local club Arsenal in 1997. On November 30, 1999, at the age of eighteen, he made his first-team debut for the club as a striker against Middlesbrough. He signed professional deals with Arsenal on February 25, 2000 and made his Premier League debut for the club against Newcastle in May that year. Ashley Cole went on loan to Crystal Palace for a part of the 1999-2000 season and played in 14 matches for the club. He returned back to Arsenal and netted a brilliant goal for the club against Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League during the 2003-04 season. Ashley Cole was a part of the team that won the Football Association (FA) Premier League twice, during the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons and the FA Cup in 2002, 2003 and 2005. His team also clinched the FA Community Shield in 2002 and 2004, and the FA Cup runner-up title in 2001. Ashley Cole also represented the club in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League final against Barcelona in the end of the 2005-06 season, in which Arsenal won the runner-up title. During his tenure with the club, he made 228 first team appearances and contributed nine goals.
Ashley Cole switched to Chelsea for a fee of £5 million on August 31, 2006, and in the next month, he represented the club for the first time as a substitute for Wayne Bridge in a 2-1 winning match against Charlton Athletic. After recovering from an injury, he returned at the end of the season to play in the last twelve minutes of the 2007 FA Cup Final win over Manchester United. Ashley Cole went on to score his first goal for the club in its 4-0 triumph against West Ham in March 2008. He was a part of the club that lifted the 2007 League Cup and secured the runner-up title in the FA Community Shield (2007) and the 2008 UEFA Champions League. Ashley Cole has represented the Chelsea in 54 matches as of August 2008.
Apart from football, he is also interested in writing, and in 2006, his autobiography My Defence was released.
