Chelsea bid farewell to left back Ashley Cole after eight seasons with the club

Ashley Cole was one of the best left-backs in Chelsea history

Ashley Cole, the recently retired English left-back, has bid adieu to Chelsea FC after playing at Stamford Bridge for nearly a decade.

Cole won a host of domestic trophies with the west London club with the 2012 Champions League triumph topping them all.

He joined the club from rivals Arsenal in the summer of 2006 and since then he has been a crucial player for Chelsea in their golden age, winning the first domestic double in 2010 and European trophies in 2012 (Champions League) and 2013 (Europa league).

The celebrated left-back’s contract came to an end yesterday and Chelsea has decided to let go of one of their star performers heralding the dawn of a new era under manager Jose Mourinho.

The 33-year old appeared for the Blues in 338 matches in eight seasons scoring 7 goals and winning 9 trophies along the way in a remarkably successful career. During his time at Chelsea, he was also the England left-back with 107 caps, the 5th highest for an England player and the most for a full back.

Cole was brought in from Arsenal in a deal which sent two-time Premier league winner and crowd favourite William Gallas the other way. But Cole won the crowd over quickly enough and formed the core of the team along with Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry.

Cole was named the Chelsea Player of the Year twice (2009 and 2011) and captained the side four times.

He was also named as the left-back in the Premier League XI celebrating the 20th anniversary of the start of the Premier league and is the only player to win the FA Cup a record seven times.

ASHLEY COLE'S CLUB CAREER HONOURS

	Premier League	FA Cup	League Cup	Europa League	Champions League
Chelsea	2010	2007, 2009, 2010	-	2013	2012
Arsenal	2002, 2004	1998, 2002, 2003, 2005	-	-	-