Coaching career on cards for Cole as he hangs up his boots

Former England, Arsenal and Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole has revealed his plans to move into coaching after announcing his retirement.

Cole won 13 major titles during his 20-year career, including the 2012 Uefa Champions League with Chelsea, three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups.

Cole, 38, with 107 appearances for England, announced his retirement on

Sky Sports before acting as a pundit for the afternoon’s Premier League games.

“After hard thinking and consideration, it was obviously time to hang my boots up and look towards my next chapter, which will hopefully be coaching.

“I’m doing a course at the moment,” said Cole, who played for Championship club Derby County last season before leaving in the summer when his short-term contract expired. “Now I want to be great at being a coach.”

Asked to sum up a career in which he made almost 700 club appearances for the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Roma and LA Galaxy, Cole added: “Incredible to be honest.”

Despite winning so many trophies with Arsenal and Chelsea, Cole said he was proudest of his England caps. Only Peter Shilton, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Bobby Moore have made more appearances. “I probably didn’t grasp it as much as I should,” he said.

Cole began his career with Arsenal and, after a brief loan spell at Crystal Palace, went on to make more than 200 appearances for the Gunners, lifting the FA Cup three times and winning the Premier League twice. He was a member of the “Invincibles” who went through the 2003/04 Premier League season unbeaten, but left in acrimonious circumstances in 2006.

Cole was fined £ 100,000 (Dh446,000) – later reduced to £75,000 on appeal – for his part in an illegal approach from Chelsea in 2005, the club he would join for £5 million the following year.

It was a move which angered Arsenal fans, who dubbed him “Cashley” after learning via his autobiography that Cole had “nearly swerved off the road” after being told Arsenal were offering £55,000 per week, compared to £90,000 from Chelsea.

Cole won the FA Cup in his first season at Stamford Bridge and four times in total and also won the Premier League in 2010 and the Champions League in 2012, scoring in the penalty shoot-out as Chelsea beat Bayern Munich.

After leaving Chelsea in 2014 Cole enjoyed spells with Roma and LA Galaxy before ending his career at Derby.