Voted Players' Player of the Year at the end of the season, Cole had his best campaign yet at Chelsea during 2008/09.

His third season at Chelsea brought out the best in the England defender as he put previous injury concerns behind him to turn in a record number of club appearances (49) as well as adding another goal, a right-footed effort on the last day of the Premier League season at Sunderland.

A week later Cole entered the record books as the only man in the modern era to win five FA Cups, two with Chelsea in 2007 and 2009 and three with Arsenal, from where he arrived on transfer deadline day in the summer of 2006.

At the time of his arrival, he took the total of England internationals in the squad to six and the number of England left-backs to two.

The Blues lost a world class defender in William Gallas to Arsenal on the same day but made sure that move was adequately compensated by signing the player frequently described as the best in his position in the world.

A product of Arsenal's youth system, Ashley was born in east London and made his debut for the Gunners at the age of 18 in the Worthington Cup.

He spent a three-month loan period at Crystal Palace at the end of the 1999/2000 season, making 14 appearances and scoring one goal, his progress rewarded with his first Premiership appearance in the final league game of the season.

By the end of the following campaign, Cole had taken over as first choice left-back from Silvinho, and the next season was handed his first winners' medals as Arsenal secured the Premiership and FA Cup double, beating Chelsea in the Final. A year later Southampton were beaten in Cardiff to take the Cup tally to two.

He was also well on the way to his second Premiership title (playing 32 times in Arsenal's unbeaten league season of 2003/4) and had become an England international.

Having played for England at youth and Under 21 levels, Cole was named in Sven-Göran Eriksson's first squad and made his full international debut against Albania in March 2001.

He played all five England games at the World Cup in 2002 and for many people, was one of his nation's star performers during Euro 2004 in Portugal. He was named in the all-star squad for the tournament.

A third FA Cup win was added in 2005, Cole scoring in the deciding penalty shoot-out against Man United.

Although his final Arsenal season saw him hampered by injuries, he recovered to start their Champions League Final defeat by Barcelona and was an ever-present in England's run to the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals.

He made his Chelsea debut against Werder Bremen at Stamford Bridge in September 2006. His transfer had involved £5 million plus Gallas going the other way.

A fabulous athlete who loves to go forward, he admitted at the season's end that Blues fans had yet to see him at his very best, a series of injures having hindered the settling process. Healthy competition with Wayne Bridge for the Chelsea left-back shirt had ended with a roughly even share of games.

An ankle operation in the summer cleared the way for an uninhibited start to the 2007/08 campaign and with Bridge injured, Ashley got off to a flyer until the same ankle was damaged on England duty in October.

Just over a month later, he returned to share duties and it was Ashley who received the nod for many major games, including all but three on the road to Moscow.

His first Chelsea goal was lashed in away at West Ham in March, andafter surviving an injury scare in training on the eve of the Champions League Final, he recovered to put in one of the best displays on the night, including a successful shoot-out penalty converted.

Working in 2008/09 Luiz Felipe Scolari, Cole was utilised far more than before in the opposition half, getting forward to add width to attacks, but with the arrival of Guus Hiddink, the full-back had his wings clipped, focusing more on defence, a tactic that paid off with a number of clean sheets.

A model of consistency throughout the campaign, Cole signaled that he had put those lingering injury doubts behind him.

Having signed a new four-year contract in September, he heads into 2009/10 with a huge reputation that threatens to grow still further.