Ashley Cole: What's his crime?

Ashley Cole Chelsea full back and England international is one of the most prodigious footballing talent of the current crop of England no hopers. Far and away the best English player in the 2009 World Cup, a man whose has won almost every domestic trophy more than once. Quite simply Cole is a footballing genius.
 
Why is it then that he attracts such hatred from the press and football fans alike, apart from the uber loyal Chelsea fans? Of course Cole as a man has some pretty unsavory personal characteristics, however, in that regard he is no different from the majority of other overpaid working class footballers -short on sense and loaded with cash.
 
Yes the man has had that unsavory departure from Arsenal and the usual panoply of minor incidents with the police for speeding to swearing in front of a police officer whilst drunk. These minor misdemeanors do not explain the sheer hatred that both fans and the press have for Cole.
 
The real reason for this goes much deeper. Cole is a very rich, very successful black man and his ex-wife is the nation’s darling.

Cheryl Cole is the epitome of the English rose, small, beautiful, and typically English, she has captured the nation’s heart.

The real crime committed by Cole is that he cheated not once but many times on the nation’s favorite white woman. Of course there is no excuse for his behavior, and yes his superstar status means he will be the splashed across the nation’s tabloids. However there is something deep in the white British psyche that still rankles against a successful black British man who is seen to defile the nation’s sweetheart.
 
Every time Cole takes to the pitch he does so with a relentless cacophony of boos and catcalls ringing in his ear. Opposition fans routinely boo every touch of the ball.
 
The hysteria in the press about an accidental shooting with an air rifle of an Arsenal sports science student is a recent example of the disproportionate press attention Cole receives. Screaming headlines, acres of print and endless broadcast news covered the event.

Whilst this was always going to attract attention, the fact was, reading the headlines and watching the news you would have thought Cole had opened up with an Uzi sub machine gun.
 
The incident was clearly an accident and yet we saw press calls for Cole to be sacked and for the police to investigate. The archetypal image of a black man with a gun was too much for some to resist
 
Cole has endured some of the most lurid tabloid headlines ever written about a professional footballer. In 2006 the News of the World and the Sun accused him of being involved in a ‘homosexual orgy” both papers were forced to retract these accusations. This illustrates the default setting in many editorial sports and newsrooms that translates into an overt news agenda to get Cole.
 
Both fans and press can’t stand Cole, and the reason for the irrational hatred and subtext behind the on-going campaign is racism.  The fact that a young urban black man, the most successful Black English player in the country, a fabulously rich footballing genius - had the temerity to cheat on the nation’s darling - that’s Cole real crime.

To his credit Cole continues to perform on the pitch despite this deeply hostile environment and if anything Cole has become a better footballer as a result, confounding press and fans alike with his ability to ignore this covert racist campaign.
 
It’s time to get of Cole’s back and give the man credit for being one of the best left backs on the planet.

Lee Jasper