Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole was born in Stepney, London on 20 December 1980.
Ashley Cole established himself as a regular left-back in Arsenal and England sides. However on 1 September 2006, on the last day of the transfer window, Chelsea snapped up Ashley Cole in exchange for £5m and French defender William Gallas.
Ashley Cole joined Arsenal as a trainee and apart from a brief spell on loan to Crystal Palace in 2000 had played all his football for the Gunners.
However, Ashley Cole was the subject of controversy when it was reported that he met Jose Mourinho and Peter Kenyon of Chelsea in January 2005 while under contract to Arsenal.
On 1 June 2005, Ashley Cole, Jose Mourinho and Chelsea were all found guilty in the 'tapping-up' affair. Ashley Cole was found to have broken the rule preventing a player contracted to one club making an approach to another club to negotiate a contract without prior written consent from his club.
Ashley Cole gained 4 Under 21 caps and made his full England debut in a World Cup qualifying match against Albania in March 2001.
In June 2005 it was announced that Ashley Cole and Cheryl Tweedy from Girls Aloud had got engaged. They married on 15 July 2006.
In 2008, Ashley Cole hit the headlines when the front pages of the tabloids reported a drunken night he spent with a 22-year-old, Aimee Walton.
Around the time of his transfer from Arsenal to Chelsea, Ashley Cole released his autobiography, My Defence.