Ashley Cole turned down on England programme front cover

Ashley Cole was dropped from the front page of Wednesday night’s match day programme. England manager Roy Hodgson, captain Steven Gerrard and Cole’s understudy Leighton Baines were featured instead. Ashley Cole was slapped down with a fine of £90,000 by the Football Association because he called the FA a ‘bunch of t****’. He made this statement against the organisation because he was alleged to be lying to the Football Association about the John Terry racism case. Later on, he was cleared and apologized for his behaviour.

This snub will have a severe impact on Cole as he is the 7th player to get a century of caps for England after players like Peter Shilton, Sir Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, Billy Wright, David Beckham and, most recently, Steven Gerrard.

Speaking ahead of tonight’s game at Wembley, Cole said: ‘I am proud to play for England.

‘From being a little boy from the East End, you would never think you’d get a chance to represent your country.

‘I’m proud, privileged and overwhelmed by how many times I have played. I never expected to play for England. To play for the 100th time is amazing. I hope it doesn’t stop here.’