Ashley Cole's eager to go down in history books as a five-star Cup collector

Tom Collomosse
29 May 2009

If Ashley Cole helps Chelsea end their two-year trophy drought by beating Everton in tomorrow's FA Cup Final, the England left-back will equal a record which has stood for 118 years.

Cole has already picked up four winner's medals in the competition, three with Arsenal in 2002, 2003 and 2005, and also after Chelsea's victory over Manchester United in the first final at the new Wembley Stadium in 2007.

Currently, Cole is one of seven players to have won the trophy four times. His former Arsenal team-mates David Seaman, Patrick Vieira and Ray Parlour are in that group, along with Ryan Giggs and former Manchester United stars Mark Hughes and Roy Keane.

But if Cole and his team-mates can outwit Everton, the 28-year-old will become the first player to claim a fifth winner's medal since Jimmy Forrest, of Blackburn, achieved a quintuple in 1891. The only other men to achieve the feat were Charles Wollaston, in 1878, and Arthur Kinnaird, in 1882.

"If I could get to this milestone, it would be a great thing to achieve," said Cole, who was an extra-time substitute when Chelsea beat United in 2007. "Winning the FA Cup is a big achievement in my life and I would be honoured to have the record."

A place in the history books would be the perfect end to an impressive season for Cole, during which he has finally produced the form he displayed at Arsenal on a consistent basis, following a difficult first two years at Chelsea since his controversial move from Arsenal three years ago.

Chelsea have far more experience of major matches than Everton, who have not reached a big final since winning the FA Cup in 1995, and Cole hopes this extra know-how will give Guus Hiddink's team the edge on the day.

Yet even though Chelsea enter the game as heavy favourites, Cole knows they will find it difficult to overcome David Moyes's well-drilled side, who finished fifth in the Premier League for the second consecutive season. He said: "Everton work very well as a team, which makes them very difficult to play against.

"Louis Saha is an excellent striker, Marouane Fellaini is very threatening in the air, and Leon Osman is a very good player. They also have a good base in defence with Joleon Lescott and Joseph Yobo, as well as Leighton Baines at left-back.

"After getting to the final, they will want to go out and win the game but hopefully the longer the game goes on, the more we can gain the upper hand.

"Our players are used to playing in the major matches, so hopefully the occasion will get to Everton more than us."

Even though Moyes does not have the financial power of many of his rivals in the top flight, he has overcome injuries to key players like Mikel Arteta and Yakubu to ensure Everton finished one place outside the top four this term.

Moyes's achievements at Goodison Park have led many to question why the Scot has never been offered a job at one of England's elite clubs.

Although Cole would not be drawn on the possibility of Moyes's managing one of the Big Four, his admiration for the former Preston boss is clear. "He has been brilliant," said Cole. "The way he has got the players working and fighting for each other is great.You look at David and you see that he is one of the managers of the year. He deserves to be seen as that - he has done a great job for Everton. It is almost a pity that we are playing them in the cup final, because I would like to see David win something. He is a manager I rate very highly but, of course, we want to win on the day.

"We drew 0-0 with Everton twice during the season and both were quite boring games. But I don't see this being boring, or 0-0. Hopefully, we can have the edge on them."

If Chelsea do prevail, the victory party would still be tinged with some sadness due to the impending departure of Hiddink.

Like so many of his Chelsea team-mates, Cole will miss the presence of the Dutchman, who leaves Stamford Bridge to regain full-time control of the Russian national team following a successful spell since he took temporary charge of the Blues in February. As well as the cup final place, Hiddink's Chelsea came within seconds of beating Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final and Cole says whoever takes over - be it hot favourite Carlo Ancelotti or anyone else - will have big shoes to fill.

He said: "It will be tough to see Guus leave, because he is a good guy and we all get on well with him. It will be a difficult job for whoever replaces him but whether Guus had done well or badly, it will always be hard to succeed at a big club like this." Barcelona's victory over Manchester United in Rome simply increased the feeling that Hiddink should have been heading out the door as a Champions League finalist at the very least. Cole added: "Winning the FA Cup would never erase the memory of the Barcelona game, even though it would be a great trophy to win. We should have been in Rome but now we've got to focus on the final."