George Alan Ashman (30 May 1928 – 30 November 2002) was an English association footballer, best remembered for some notable managerial successes.

Playing career

Born in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, Ashman had an undistinguished amateur playing career with Sheffield United and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

during the ad hoc competitions of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1951, he signed for Carlisle United for whom he made 214 appearances, scoring 98 goals. In 1958, suffering from

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. Semi-transparent and non-porous, it is usually covered by a tough and fibrous membrane called perichondrium. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints ...

damage, he retired from playing to manage the poultry farm of one of the club's directors. As a recreation, he managed amateur team Penrith and when Third Division Carlisle found themselves in need of a manager in February 1963, the club offered Ashman the job. During his playing career he played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

in the 1956

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

. In 2009 Ashman was named at 18th in a list of Carlisle United's top 100 players, compiled by local newspaper the ''

News and Star The ''News and Star'' (formerly the ''Evening News and Star'' and ''Cumberland Evening News'') is a local tabloid newspaper in Cumbria. As of 18 October 2018, it belongs to Newsquest who produce several regional newspapers throughout the UK. ...

''.

Management career

Ashman was too late to prevent that season's relegation but the following season saw a bounce back, and the season after that, the Third Division championship. Leading Division Two for much of the 1965–66 season, the club was disappointed to miss out on promotion by finishing third. Ashman's exploits had not gone unnoticed and, in 1967, he joined

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, leading them in a series of exciting cup runs, crowned by victory in the 1968

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. His new club was, however, impatient for further trophies and he was dismissed in 1971, hearing of the news from a waiter while on holiday in Greece. Somewhat ironically, he went on to manage Olympiakos before returning to Carlisle in August 1972, leading the club to the First Division and a brief spell at the top of the entire English league. The heights were short-lived and Ashman left the club to manage

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

from 1975 to 1977 and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

before settling for junior coaching and scouting roles at Derby County, Hereford United and Swallows of Walsall. He died in 2002 in

. A minute's silence was held in his honour prior to West Bromwich Albion's home match against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Honours

Managerial

; Carlisle United (1963–1967) & (1972–1975) * Football League 2nd Tier (Currently

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

): **2nd Runners-up: 1973–74 * Football League 3rd Tier (Currently

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

): **Winners: 1964–65 * Football League 4th Tier (Currently

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

): **Runners-up: 1963–64 ;

(1967–1971) *

: **Winners:

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

;

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

(1971–1972) * Greek League: **Runners-up:

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

* Greater Greece Cup: **Winners:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashman, Alan 1928 births English men's footballers Sheffield United F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Carlisle United F.C. managers Olympiacos F.C. managers West Bromwich Albion F.C. managers Workington A.F.C. managers Walsall F.C. managers English Football League managers English cricketers Cumberland cricketers 2002 deaths Penrith A.F.C. managers Men's association football forwards Footballers from Rotherham 20th-century English sportsmen