Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left back.
Cole began his career with Arsenal in 1999, going on to make 228 appearances and scoring nine goals. With Arsenal he won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, was part of the "Invincibles" team of 2003-04 and was also a UEFA Champions League runner-up. In August 2006, after a protracted transfer saga, he completed a move to rival club Chelsea. Cole won further honours with Chelsea, including another Premier League title, four more FA Cups, a League Cup and a UEFA Champions League. He has won the FA Cup seven times, more than any other player in history.
Cole has been an England international since 2001 and played at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups, as well as Euro 2004. He was voted England Player of the Year in 2010. As of 2012 has won 93 caps, making him England's most capped full back and most capped black player.
Cole married singer Cheryl Cole (née Tweedy) in July 2006. They separated in February 2010; she divorced him in September 2010 after claims he had cheated on her with over five women.
Konstantinos "Kostas" Manolas (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μανωλάς, born 14 June 1991) is a Greek professional footballer currently playing for AEK Athens as a centre back. Kostas Manolas is a nephew of Greek football and AEK legend Stelios Manolas. Manolas also wears the number 4, previously worn by his uncle. He originates from Naxos although he has spent his entire life in Athens.
Stelios Manolas himself stated, "Kostas is my "successor" although Stelios Manolas is regarded to be the best Greek defender of all time.
Kostas Manolas started his youth career at Thrasyvoulos F.C. in 2005 to 2007. In 2009, Stelios Manolas, who was the AEK Technical Director was scouting his nephew at a youth match with AEK manager Dusan Bajevic and was impressed with his performance.
On 16 June 2009, Manolas signed a three year deal with AEK Athens.
After signing for AEK, Manolas stated: I am very happy signing for the team I support, hopefully I can be a legend at the club like my uncle and end my career at AEK.
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side. He is considered to be one of the best English footballers of his time, and is widely regarded to be one of the best midfield players of his generation. Lampard is best described as a box-to-box midfielder known for "his work-rate, range of passing and goalscoring ability."
Lampard began his career at West Ham United, for whom his father Frank Lampard, Sr. had also played. He had secured a place in the first team by the 1997–98 season, and the following year helped the team finish 5th in the Premier League, their highest-ever Premier League placing. In 2001, he moved to rival London club Chelsea for £11 million.
From his debut onwards he was ever-present in the Chelsea first team, setting a record 164 consecutive Premier League appearances. He established himself as a prolific scorer at the West London club and was a key part of the sides which won back-to-back Premier League titles in 2004–05 and 2005–06 and a domestic cup double in 2007. He signed a new contract in 2008, becoming the highest paid Premier League footballer at that time, and scored in his first Champions League Final that same year. He won the FA Cup for the second time in 2009, scoring the winning goal in the final. In the 2009–10 season, Lampard won the Premier League title and FA Cup (domestic cup double) and also had his most prolific season with Chelsea, scoring 22 league goals and 17 league assists. In the 2011-12 season, Lampard captained Chelsea to their first UEFA Champions League title.
Batty boy (also spelled batty bwoy), batty man are pejorative sexual slurs used to describe gay, bisexual and effeminate men, or those presumed to be gay and bisexual. The term is a Jamaican Patois abbreviation of the word bottom into batty; "batty boy" is a cognate of the American English "butt boy". Usage is commonplace in some Caribbean cultures where homosexuality is condemned, partially as a result of mainly conservative Christian and Rastafarian beliefs. Sex between men is punishable with up to ten years jail in Jamaica. The country is seen as one of the most violent towards gay men in particular and in 2006 Time noted it likely was the worst place in the Americas for LGBT people and one of the most homophobic places in the world. In 2009, the New York Times reported on the continuing violence including a case where police were helping a male gay-bashing victim by driving him to a hospital when people admonished them for helping a batty boy, whereupon they removed him from the car and loaded him into the trunk instead.
Eden Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian international footballer who currently plays for French club Lille in Ligue 1 and the Belgium national team. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger. Hazard is known for his creativity, speed, and technical ability and is described as a "fearless, explosive attacking midfielder who can change the game with a turn of pace or a dribble". He has also been described as "a defender's nightmare" and has earned critical acclaim for his playing style, which has led to the media, coaches, and players drawing comparisons to FIFA World Player of the Year winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Hazard is the son of former Belgian footballers and began his football career in Belgium playing for local clubs Royal Stade Brainois and Tubize. In 2005, he moved to France joining first division club Lille. Hazard spent two years in the club's academy and, at the age of 16, made his professional debut in November 2007. In his first full season as a starter, he won the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Young Player of the Year award becoming the first non-French player to win the award. In the 2009–10 season, Hazard captured the award again becoming the first player to win the award twice. He was also named to the league's Team of the Year. Since making his debut in 2007, Hazard has become an integral part of the club under manager Rudi Garcia racking up over 190 appearances. In the 2010–11 season, he was a part of the Lille team that won the league and cup double and, as a result of his performances, was named the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year becoming the youngest player to win the award. Hazard was also given the Bravo Award by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo for his performances during the 2010–11 season.