Eric Ashton

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Eric Ashton

Personal information
Full name	Eric Ashton
Date of birth	January 24, 1935(1935-01-24)
Place of birth	St. Helens, Merseyside, England
Date of death	March 20, 2008 (aged 73)
Senior clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (points)
1955–1969	Wigan	497 (1,589)
Representative teams
1957–1969	Great Britain	26
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only.

Eric Ashton MBE (January 24, 1935 – March 20, 2008) was an English rugby league footballer. He played his whole first grade football career for Wigan RLFC along with at times both captaining and coaching them; his position of choice was right centre. Over the span of his career he came to be known as one of the best centres in the modern game and formed a devastating partnership with Billy Boston somewhat because of this combination he went on to represent the Great Britain national side making his debut in 1957. After his retirement from league in 1969, Ashton went on to coach Wigan as well as Leeds, St Helens and Great Britain; he also had a brief stint as chairman of St Helens in 1996. He was a member of the St Helens board for fifteen years.

[edit] Childhood and early career

Born and raised in St Helens, Lancashire, Ashton began playing rugby league at an early age and it wasn't long before his talent became noticeable; he was signed to the St Helens schoolboys side before joining the Army not long after. In 1954 Ashton was spotted playing rugby league during his National Service in the Army and was subsequently invited for a trial with rival club Wigan. He attended the trial and was seen by the directors of the club as being a player with exceptional talent, after Wigan offered him a spot in their top level side Ashton offered his home town club St. Helens the chance to sign him but they passed and he then signed for Wigan in 1955 for £150.

[edit] Wigan

After signing for Wigan he quickly linked up with Welsh right winger Billy Boston and formed one of the most devastating right-wing-threequarter partnerships of modern times. Such was the impact of both Ashton and Boston it led to Ashton being promoted as captain of the Wigan side after just two years at the club at the tender age of 22. It was a position he would go onto hold for the next twelve years.

Ashton's honours and achievements are nothing short of impressive, with 3 victorious Wembley Challenge Cup finals (out of a possible six), a Rugby League Championship in 1966, a Lancashire Challenge Cup and two Lancashire League Championships as well as a BBC Floodlit trophy.

Ashton was a true professional in every sense, being sent off just twice in his whole career and due to his professionalism, talent and intelligence he would go on to achieve a long and distinguished footballing career.

[edit] Great Britain

Ashton made his international debut at the age of 22 for the Great Britain side against France in 1957.

He would go on to collect a total of 26 caps for the Great Britain side with his first Southern hemisphere tour coming in 1957 as the British side competed in the World Cup. He would become somewhat immortalised as one of the players involved in the all-conquering British side of 1960, captaining Great Britain to victory over the Australians on several occasions.

It's usually said that Ashton's greatest moment could have come in the 1962 tour to Australasia when while captaining Great Britain to an almost complete whitewash over the Australians a last minute refereeing decision ruined the chance of this occurring. In total Ashton captained the British side 15 times.

[edit] Career playing statistics

[edit] Point scoring summary

[edit] Matches played

[edit] Life after Rugby League

[edit] Coaching

In 1963 he was appointed player-coach of the Wigan club, a position that he held for a further six years before hanging up his boots as a player in 1969. He would continue on his managerial role at the club for another four years.

Following the 1973 season Ashton resigned his post as Wigan coach and moved to Leeds for a short spell before moving on to coach St Helens to two Challenge Cup finals in 1976 and 1978. In 1996 he was appointed Chairman of his old club and was at the helm when they won the double that year.

Prior to his death, Ashton was a director at St. Helens for almost fifteen years.

[edit] Honours

Due to his heroics in the southern hemisphere, Eric Ashton was the first rugby league player to be honoured by the Queen. He was awarded the MBE in June 1966.

In 2005 Ashton was also inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame and the British Rugby League Hall of Fame.

[edit] Death

On 20 March 2008 it was announced that Eric had died, after a long battle with cancer. ^{[1] [2]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Eric Ashton official Wigan profile
• Eric Ashton at rugbyleaguehistory.co.uk
• http://www.narlvi.co.uk/eric_ashton.html

• Obituaries:
  • The Guardian, 21 March 2008
  • The Times, 23 March 2008
  • The Independent, 25 March 2008
  • The Daily Telegraph, 25 March 2008