Dean Ashton

Crewe Alexandra

Born in Swindon, Wiltshire, and raised in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, Ashton spent his youth career playing at Crewe Alexandra. He was a product of Crewe's renowned youth development policy under manager Dario Gradi. He signed scholarship forms as a 16-year-old in 2000 before making his first-team debut on 28 October as an 83rd-minute substitute in Crewe's 1–0 win at Gillingham and became one of the youngest players to represent the club. He waited three months for his second appearance, again as substitute, in a 3–1 victory over Grimsby Town, and his first goal for the Railwaymen was in their 4–2 victory against Burnley. His first start arrived in an FA Cup clash against Cardiff City in January 2001. He finished his first season at the club with eight goals, including crucial ones against Bolton Wanderers, Portsmouth, Gillingham and Wimbledon towards the end of the season as Crewe secured their First Division status. His second season at the club was disrupted by injury and a temporary loss of form, but in spite of this he scored ten times and began to win international honours with England at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 level. Ashton scored 16 more times in the 2002–03 season as the club bounced back to the First Division after just one season in the Second Division. Ashton had a number of notable displays for Crewe, one of which was in the 4–0 win against Luton Town, where he scored two goals and set up David Vaughan's goal. Crewe…

Ashton progressed through the England youth set up, racking up an impressive goal-to-game ratio. In August 2006, Ashton was first called up to the England senior team for their friendly against Greece, part of new manager Steve McClaren's team. However, just a day before the match, the striker suffered a heavy tackle from Shaun Wright-Phillips which resulted in a broken ankle in training and missed out on a chance to make his England debut against Greece. He then later was ruled out for more than a year and missed the whole of the West Ham season. He was recalled to the England squad and was fit to face Estonia. However, a few days later, it was announced that he had been ruled out of action for up to six weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament, forcing him to once again miss out on making his international debut for a second time. In May 2008, Ashton was named in McClaren's successor, Fabio Capello's, squad for the USA and Trinidad and Tobago friendlies. He finally made his debut, more than two years after his first call up, in the match against Trinidad & Tobago on 1 June 2008.

Club

International

Crewe Alexandra

Football League Second Division runner-up: 2002–03 West Ham United

FA Cup runner-up: 2005–06