Ashley Cole inducted into National Football Museum's hall of fame

England’s Ashley Cole has been inducted into the National Football Museum’s hall of fame, with a special presentation taking place at St. George’s Park on Wednesday.

The former Arsenal, Chelsea, Roma and LA Galaxy defender won 107 caps for the Three Lions during a stellar career which saw him represent England at three World Cups and two European Championships.

At domestic level, Cole won the FA Cup on seven occasions, more than any other player in the competition’s history, along with three Premier League titles and an EFL Cup success in 2007.

On top of that, he lifted the UEFA Champions League in 2012 and the UEFA Europa League the following year during his time with Chelsea.

And he now joins the exclusive selection of English football greats at the Museum in Manchester, with the current England men’s under-21s assistant coach being presented with the honour following a training session with the Young Lions at the national football centre, in front of 30 local schoolchildren, as they prepared to face France and Portugal in March.

Speaking about the award, Cole said: "It's good, whenever you retire and reflect on the career you've had, you look at the ups and downs, the knockbacks, rejections and disappointments, but to get recognised with this I'm very honoured and humbled by it.

"The journey from where I was, as a 14 or 15 year old and all the hard work and sacrifice, to then be able to make my debut for my boyhood club and continue to win trophies and grow as a player is something I won't take lightly.

"I really enjoyed the journey and the hard work to get there and the success that comes with that.

"If there's a lesson there for young kids it's to keep persevering and working hard on the training pitch and hopefully you'll have a career like I did.

"I've got two young kids who always ask me if I was a good player - my daughter thought I was a referee! - so it did open my eyes to the achievement and the level I got to.

"But working with these lads here, I see a lot of me in there, they're a very humble and hard-working group.”