After lining up alongside each other 126 times for club and country, Joe Cole and Ashley Cole shared plenty of career highlights, whether that was winning trophies with Chelsea or as part of England’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’ in the mid-2000s.
But the pair’s connection goes further back than this, with Ashley distinctly remembering the first time he saw Joe in action, long before either was anywhere near their Premier League breakthroughs.
And what the young Ashley saw left him in awe.
Asked by FourFourTwo why the pair get on so well, Ashley is quick to make a joke.
“Do we get on?” he asked before both former players broke out into laughter. “I’ve known Joey since the age of 10.
“My brother played for a local team that played down that way and I got the opportunity to watch Joe literally rip players at that age!”
Indeed, Joe’s talent was clear from an early age, with the young playermaker’s reputation spreading across the youth football circuit in London long before he was snapped up by West Ham United and became one of the country’s best young players.
“So I knew his name then,” Ashley continues. “Then you came and played in a game for Arsenal, right? And again, I was in awe of him.”
Ashley is less than a year older than Joe and the pair would often cross paths as they progressed through the youth ranks of Arsenal and the Hammers respectively.
This led to a friendship that remains to this day, as the pair both reached the top of the game, culminating in their lining up alongside each other for England at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, plus the 2004 European Championship.
“We played against each other in youth teams,” Ashley continues. I’ve gone through a lot of my life with Joe being around.
“We had the opportunity to play in the same team, to represent our country together – we had to have a good relationship to play well on the left-hand side, me at left-back, Joey on the left wing.
“We just got on, we’re easy-going guys.”
Could It Be Coming Home? with Joe Cole and Ashley Cole is brought to you by Carling, official sponsor of the Emirates FA Cup and Adobe Women’s FA Cup. Watch the show on YouTube and Spotify, or listen to it wherever you get your podcasts
