Turned to Ash
From Cheryl marriage to Cashley abuse, life and times of Ashley Cole, football’s most divisive figure
Affairs, arrests and shooting team-mates are one thing, but about the other, often-forgotten side of the 107-cap star?
ASHLEY COLE is set for a sensational return to England with old pal Frank Lampard at Derby.
Lampard, 40, is set to complete the raid for his former Chelsea and England team-mate in the next 48 hours in an eye catching swoop.
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While there's no doubt Cole, 38 - now a free-agent after being leaving LA Galaxy - is a talented player, his off-field antics have caused a stir down the years.
From Cheryl to affairs and even being arrested, we look at the life and times of England's 107-cap left-back...
His marriage to Cheryl Tweedy was rocky to say the least…
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When Cole married the Girls Aloud singer in 2006 it seemed like the watching world might just have their next Posh and Becks.
It didn’t quite pan out that way.
Though they looked the picture of marital bliss as they appeared in adverts for the National Lottery, the relationship was rocked by Cole’s affairs.
Matters took a turn for the worse when Cheryl’s mum, Joan, moved into the couple’s £6million mansion in Hurtmore, Surrey.
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A source close to Cole said: “He said they used to have a spontaneous and fresh sex life, but with her mother in the house it was extremely difficult.
“And when they were both at home Cheryl would stay up watching TV with her mum while he went to bed. It's a bit of a passion killer to have your mum in the house.
“Ashley said their sex life had dwindled to virtually nothing. He knows he is to blame, but the marriage was not great.”
He couldn’t help himself with the ladies…
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A serial cheat, Cole is said to have had affairs with at least five women during his marriage to Cheryl but it was the tryst with hairdresser Aimee Walton in 2008 that all but broke the marriage.
Having the affair was bad enough but to then have your wife read in the papers that her husband had also thrown up over the women during sex?
Well, that must have hurt.
Remarkably, though, Cheryl accepted Cole’s apologies (and a £160,000 square-cut diamond) and the marriage survived, albeit only until 2010.
He had a one-track mind…
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No, not money but women.
Just two hours before England’s opening 2010 World Cup game against the USA in South Africa, Cole was bombarding a model he had just seen on a pal’s Facebook page with demands for “real dirty” photographs.
Cole would send 139 messages to the woman over the course of the tournament as England went out in the last 16, thrashed 4-1 by Germany.
“On the day of the USA game he was sending me texts, asking for pictures and telling me to ‘hurry up’ when I didn’t reply,” said the woman, who preferred to remain anonymous.
“His mind seemed to be on phone sex more than it did on football.”
Frank Lampard has made an offer to Ashley Cole to join Derby
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The origins of ‘Cashley’ Cole…
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Yes, it’s the infamous episode when Cole was so disgusted with Arsenal’s new contract offer of £55,000-a-week that he could barely keep his vehicle on the road when his agent spoke to him.
“When I heard Jonathan [Barnett] repeat the figure of £55k, I nearly swerved off the road,” he said in his autobiography.
“I was so incensed. I was trembling with anger. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. I suppose it all started to fall apart for me from then on.”
Yep, pretty much.
It’s not the only car trouble he’s had…
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In January 2010, Cole was caught doing 104mph in a 50mph zone along a residential section of the A3 near Kingston-upon-Thames.
When the case came to court, Cole’s defence was clever but unsuccessful.
He argued that not only was the police speed gun faulty (it wasn’t) but he was only driving that fast because he wanted to evade the paparazzi (who weren’t even following him).
He should have used the Fergie trots excuse. He was fined £1,000 and banned from driving for four months.
He’s game for a laugh…
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When he signed for Roma in 2014, Cole joined his new team-mates in the Italian capital for a team shot.
The trouble was he was stood uncomfortably at the side, looking isolated and more than a little estranged from the rest of the squad.
Cue a million lurking memes with Cole cropping up everywhere.
From swimming with dolphins to walking across the Abbey Road zebra crossing with The Beatles and even standing outside the window of ex- wife Cheryl’s living room as she posed for a picture with her new husband Jean-Bernard Fernandex-Versini.
To his credit, Cole himself retweeted many of the memes.
Although the laughs sometimes went too far…
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In 2011 while he was training with Chelsea at their Cobham complex, Cole picked up a .22 calibre air rifle he’d brought with him and jokingly pulled the trigger.
The trouble was two-fold.
First, the gun was loaded.
Second, work experience intern Tom Cowan was standing right in the firing line.
Fortunately, the 21-year-old Loughborough University student escaped with a minor wound while Cole escaped with a dressing own from the club and a warning from the police.
But he did get nicked in 2009…
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After taking part in a charity event with TV presenter Fiona Phillips in March 2009, Cole repaired to the Collection bar and restaurant in Chelsea’s Brompton Road.
Which is where things get messy.
When he left the bar in the early hours, Cole became involved in an altercation with a photographer and when police intervened, he was eventually arrested for being drunk and disorderly.
Cole spent three hours in a cell that night before being released with an £80 fixed penalty notice.
But he’s a hell of a player…
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Whatever was happening off the field in Ashley Cole’s life, there can be no denying he was one of the greatest defenders of his generation.
Don’t take our word for it. Just ask Cristiano Ronaldo, who faced him with club and country on countless occasions.
When the Juve star was asked on Spanish television in 2018 who his toughest ever opponent was he didn’t hesistate in his response.
“Ashley Cole,” he replied.
Perhaps the most memorable duel between the pair came in a 1-1 draw between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford in November 2006.
That day, with the United fans taunting Cole, the defender simply turned to them and tapped the top of his leg, suggesting he had Ronaldo well and truly in his pocket.
Inside Ashley Cole and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini's fomer marital home that's been sold for millions
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