Chelsea star is Cup King Cole

Blues full-back Ashley Cole will be looking to extend his FA Cup record this season.

Ashley Cole hasn’t always been the first name on the team-sheet during Jose Mourinho’s second spell at Chelsea.

On Sunday, though, The Special One’s decision on who plays at left-back against Stoke City may be influenced by perhaps the most remarkable record in cup football. Cole is Mr FA Cup. He’s won it seven times.

To put that into context, that’s more than Liverpool, Everton or Manchester City and as many as his own club have won it in their 109-year history.

Only Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal have won the famous old trophy more often than the man from the Stepney area of London. Even more remarkable is that Cole’s seven victories have come in the space of 14 years.

No one else comes close. Only three players have reached five Charles Wollaston, Jimmy Forrest and Lord Arthur Kinnaird, and they played their football when Queen Victoria was on the throne.

Cole made his debut in the competition for Arsenal against Carlisle at Brunton Park in January, 2001. That year, he went all the way to the final before losing to Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium.

Since then, he’s only lost a single match in the competition when Everton knocked out Chelsea on penalties in a fourth-round replay at Stamford Bridge three years ago. That’s 47 matches all told and just two defeats.

If ever his club he won three FA Cups at Arsenal and four more at Chelsea has been knocked out, injury had ruled him out of the game. He missed last season’s semi-final defeat by Manchester City, for instance, with a hamstring injury.

In all those 47 appearances, he’s never scored though he did put away one of Arsenal’s penalties in the shoot-out they won against Manchester United in 2005.

Cole doesn’t speak to the media these days but ahead of his sixth final against Portsmouth three years ago, he classed that backs-to-the-wall Gunners victory as his best FA Cup memory.

“I’ve got the chance to make history and that means such a lot,” he said at the time.

“The FA Cup will always be special to me. I’ve had so many great occasions, the build-up and the atmosphere is brilliant and being English, it’s one of the best trophies you can win.”

He did make history with trophy number six. Then he re-wrote it with seven when Chelsea beat Liverpool in 2012. For every one of his 14-year involvement with the competition, Cole’s been an automatic choice as his team’s left-back.

This season, however, that’s not been the case. Mourinho had been using Spanish right-back Cesar Azpilicueta out of position on the left and Cole had to wait until an injury to regular right-back Branislav Ivanovic allowed him a recall.

He’s in the final months of his Chelsea contract and has become more susceptible to injuries at the age of 33. He may be offered an extension at Stamford Bridge, but there’s certain to be interest from other clubs, including Real Madrid.

In the meantime, Cole has FA Cup business to take care of. Already, his record is likely to stand for a long time. If he was to become a winner again this season, it will probably never be matched, let alone broken.