The Fall and Rise of Chelsea's Ashley Cole

At Wembley on Saturday when Ashley Cole’s name was read out as "Man of the Match," a huge cheer went up from the Chelsea fans in appreciation of the England left back.

This has been a great year for Cole, becoming the most successful FA cup winner of the modern era and being voted Players’ Player of the Year shows that he has finally been become a crucial part of Chelsea Football Club.

When Ashley Cole first arrived, he was seen by many as overkill at the end of the tapping up saga, and also the way of getting William Gallas out of the club. For two seasons, he looked a shadow of the player who had bombed up and down the left flank at Arsenal.

Chelsea fans were always cynical given his private life, and behind Cristiano Ronaldo he has long been held as the second most hated player in England, with even some of his own supporters in that group.

This season, however, has been the turning point; Cole had fully recovered from the ankle injury that has stopped him being his attacking self in his early days. He has always maintained it was this and not José Mourinho’s tactics that had shackled him.

He has been one of Chelsea’s most consistent performers this season, and the Cup final was the most standout performance of them all.

The best way to emphasise just how good it was is to look at Tony Hibbert. The Everton right back was so tortured by Cole and the heat that he simply couldn’t carry on beyond half time, and David Moyles mercifully replaced him.

Whilst other players were conserving their energy, Cole stuck to what he knows best and kept pushing forward, and in temperatures that pushed 40 degrees, it was awesome to watch.

You felt as if all of the frustrations Cole has dealt with in the last three years were fueling him to that history-making fifth FA Cup.

From his personal life being splashed all over the tabloids, his controversial and in hindsight ill-advised autobiography, and the resulting jeers from fans was the wind at his back as he raced down the touchline.

There was one moment in the first half where he skipped past Hibbert once again and looked set to round off his season perfectly with a goal. Sadly, the script has other plans.

But nonetheless, there were few if any who could argue with Cole picking up the awards he has at the end of this season, and whilst the man himself said this FA Cup was his most satisfying, perhaps his biggest achievement lies in gaining the admiration of the Chelsea fans.

Until the Cup final, Cole’s name had always been one of those whilst cheered, not with the enthusiasm of Lampard, Drogba or even a Joe Cole.

Now however, Ashley Cole is one of the first names on every Chelsea fan’s team sheet, and rightly so.

His performances this season have changed everyone’s thought process. He may still be the most hated man in London, but these days, he’s our man.

And maybe next year, under the tutelage of Carlo Ancelotti, Cole will finally be able to add a Champions League winner’s medal to the two runners-up ones in his collection.