Ashley Cole retires: Key moments in career of left-back after he misses out on England World Cup squad

Cole confirmed he has been omitted from Roy Hodgson's England squad for the World Cup

Following Ashley Cole's decision to retire from international football after Roy Hodgson left him out of England's World Cup squad, we take a look at the key moments that has seen the left-back rise to the top of the game.

1980: December 20 - Born in Stepney, London.

1999: November - Makes Arsenal debut in League Cup match against Middlesbrough.

2000: May - Handed a Premier League debut against Newcastle before being sent on loan to Crystal Palace..

August - Makes England Under-21 debut against Georgia.

2001: March - Makes England senior debut in World Cup qualifier against Albania after just four Under-21 caps.

2002: First-choice left-back as the Gunners win the Premier League and FA Cup double. Named in England 2002 World Cup squad and is an ever-present in Japan and South Korea.

2003: Wins second FA Cup with Arsenal.

2004: Key part of the legendary 'Invincibles' side that win the Premier League in an unbeaten season. Plays every game of England's Euro 2004 campaign in Portugal and named in the team of the tournament.

2005: May - Claims his third FA Cup winner's medal, scoring a penalty in the shoot-out victory over Manchester United.

June - Fined by the FA for his involvement in transfer talks with Chelsea which had not been sanctioned by Arsenal.

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2006: May - Plays full 90 minutes in the 2-1 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona. Ever-present in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

August - Signs for Chelsea in a cash-plus-player deal involving William Gallas.

September 9: Debuts for Chelsea as a replacement for Wayne Bridge in 2-1 win over Charlton.

2007: May - Recovers sufficiently from a knee injury to play the last 12 minutes of extra time as Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in the FA Cup final.

2008: March - Scores first goal for the Blues at West Ham. Issues an apology to Tottenham's Alan Hutton for a bad tackle and to referee Mike Riley for his reaction to the subsequent booking.

May - Plays in his second Champions League final, again on the losing side as Chelsea go down on penalties to United despite Cole scoring his spot-kick.

2009: May - Wins fifth FA Cup medal as Blues defeat Everton 2-1. Named Chelsea's player of the year for the 2008/09 season.

2010: May: Wins a then record sixth FA Cup medal as Blues see off Portsmouth 1-0. Chelsea also pip Manchester United to the Premier League title to give Cole the second double of his career. Named England's player of the year by fans.

2011: February - Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admits Cole "made a mistake" and "stepped over the line" following media reports he shot an air rifle towards a club intern.

September - Makes his 87th England appearance against Denmark to become his country's most capped full-back ahead of Kenny Sansom.

2012: May - Continues his proud tradition in the FA Cup with a record seventh final success, a 2-1 win over Liverpool. Wins the Champions League at the third time of asking as Chelsea defeat Bayern Munich on penalties. Scores in the shoot-out.

June - Misses in shoot-out as England lose European Championship quarter-final to Italy.

October 5 - Uncertainty over Cole's testimony in John Terry's disciplinary hearing is cited by independent FA regulatory commission in written explanation for the Chelsea captain's four-match ban and fine. Cole attacks the FA in a foul-mouthed rant on Twitter, for which he quickly apologises.

October 8 - Charged with misconduct by the FA in relation to his Twitter comment.

October 18 - Fined £90,000 by the FA for the misconduct offence.

2013: January 22 - Chelsea confirm that Cole had signed a one-year contract extension. His deal was due to run out in the summer.

February 6 - Wins his 100th cap for England in the friendly against Brazil.

May 15 - Wins the Europa League with Chelsea, who beat Benfica 2-1 in the final in Amsterdam.

May 29 - Captains England in the international friendly against the Republic of Ireland in celebration of his 100 caps.

2014: March 5 - Makes what turns out to be his final England appearance in a 1-0 friendly win over Denmark.

May 11 - Retires from international duty after being informed of his omission from England's World Cup squad.