David George Ashworth (2 June 1867 – 1947) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

referee and manager. He became the first manager of

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

in 1906, spending eight successful years there before moving on to manage

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

in 1914 and staying with them through the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1920 he was appointed manager of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and in his first season in charge he guided them to their second successive season in 4th place, eight points behind the Champions

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. The following season, 1921/22, Ashworth led Liverpool to their third League Championship. The team were well on their way to a second successive Championship the following season, when in February 1923 Ashworth left the table-topping side to return to Oldham, then at the bottom of the league. Oldham ended the season relegated, while Liverpool only won one of their last seven games, but still won the Championship by six points. Ashworth remained at Oldham for just over a year before moving to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, but he resigned in 1925 as the club struggled towards relegation. He next tried his hand in management with a brief spell with

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 ...

between 1926 and 1927.

Managerial career

Career honours

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1921–22

References

External links

*
Manager profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashworth, David 1867 births 1947 deaths Liverpool F.C. managers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. managers Manchester City F.C. managers Walsall F.C. managers Stockport County F.C. managers Footballers from Blackpool Date of death missing English football managers

Managerial career

Career honours

See also

References

External links