Ray Ashby (birth unknown) is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1960s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, and at club level for Liverpool City,

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

, and

Blackpool Borough Blackpool Borough was a rugby league club based in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, that played in the Rugby Football League from 1954 until 1993. The club moved to Wigan in 1987 and was renamed Springfield Borough; to Chorley in 1988 and wa ...

, as a , or .

Playing career

Club career

Ashby started his professional career at Liverpool City. In March 1964, he was signed by

for a fee of £3,500. Ashby played in

's 20–16 victory over

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

in the 1965 Challenge Cup Final during the 1964–65 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 8 May 1965, in front of a crowd of 89,016. He jointly won the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to man of the match in the annual Challenge Cup Final. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was kill ...

with Hunslet's Brian Gabbitas for

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

, and was the first time two players polled the same number of votes. He returned to Wembley with Wigan the following year in the 1966 Challenge Cup final, but this time lost 2–21 to St Helens. During the 1966–67 season, Ashby played in

's 16–13 victory over

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

in the 1966 Lancashire Cup Final at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

, on Saturday 29 October 1966.

International honours

Ashby was selected to play for

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

while he was at Liverpool City in 1964, and was one of only four players in the club's history to be capped for Great Britain. He won a second cap against France while at Wigan in 1965.

References

External links

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Kiwis open British tours…
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashby, Raymond Living people English rugby league players Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside Blackpool Borough players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Lance Todd Trophy winners Liverpool City (rugby league) players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Wigan Warriors players Year of birth missing (living people)