Samuel Seth Ashton (born 9 October 1986) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for English non-League side

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the Liverpool County Premier League and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool Count ...

. He has previously played for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

FC United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester, more commonly known as FC United, is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home m ...

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

, Ramsbottom United, Radcliffe, and

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

Career

Bolton Wanderers

Ashton began his professional football career at

and, on 7 January 2006, was named as the substitute goalkeeper for Bolton's

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 ...

Third Round tie against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. However, he came on for the last few minutes of the match as a striker, replacing

Jared Borgetti Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría (; born 14 August 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer who currently works as a commentator for ESPN Deportes and ESPN Mexico. Borgetti earned a reputation as a prolific goal scorer, particu ...

. Ashton also made 18 appearances for the Bolton Wanderers Reserves during his time at the

Reebok Reebok International Limited ( ) is an American footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had bee ...

. Described by his boss as "the best and most staunch Bolton Wanderers fan in our camp", then Bolton manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

explained: "He wears a massive tattoo with the club badge on it. He comes from the heart of Bolton and he loves the club so much and is so passionate. He just asked if he could get on for a couple of minutes. We were always ready to play him outfield as he has played at right-back and centre-back for the youth team. I thought it would be a perfect late Christmas present." Towards the end of the 2005–06 season he was told that he was free to leave Bolton and spent considerable time on trial with non-League sides such as

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

and

Radcliffe Borough Radcliffe Football Club (formerly Radcliffe Borough) is an English football club based in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, where they play their home games at Stainton Park. The club was formed on 24 May 1949 and currently plays in the National L ...

F.C. United of Manchester

On 26 July 2006, he made his debut for

in a friendly against Bury. He has since made his competitive debut for United of Manchester against St Helens Town, in the first game of the 2006–07

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a association football, football league in the North West England, North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, ...

Division One season, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory for the away team, played at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

. After 140 appearances for the club, he reached a landmark 50th clean sheet on 4 April 2009 against

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

. Against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in the FA Cup second round he saved a penalty in the last minute to earn United of Manchester a replay. He scored his first career goal in a 4–0 win away to

Retford United Retford United Football Club (also known as 'The Badgers') are an English football club based at Cannon Park in Retford, Nottinghamshire. They currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1987 by Retfordian Brian Jackson to give t ...

on 15 January 2011. The ball got caught up in the wind and lobbed the opposing goalkeeper. He left the club in July 2011 in order to secure more first team football.

Skelmersdale United

Ashton joined

after leaving F.C. United. In March 2012 he also joined

on dual registration forms.

Chorley

In May 2013 Ashton joined

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

side

. He was a part of the Chorley team that won the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

and gained promotion to the

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

in 2014. In October 2016 Ashton was ruled out for the season for Chorley with a crucial ligament injury.

Ramsbottom United

In January 2018 he signed for Ramsbottom United after playing two games for Kendal Town over the Christmas period.

Lancaster City

In June 2019 he signed for

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Foot ...

Radcliffe

He signed for

Premier Division side Radcliffe on a free transfer in August 2021.

Macclesfield

In late 2021 Ashton signed for Macclesfield F.C. in the Northwest Counties Premier Division. Macclesfield went on to win the league in their first season and gained promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One West.

Career statistics

Honours

*Individual **

2010–11 FA Cup The 2010–11 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON for sponsorship reasons) was the 130th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. A total of 806 clubs applied to enter of which 759 were accepted, a slight ...

Player of the Round (1): Second Round Proper

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Sam 1986 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players F.C. United of Manchester players Skelmersdale United F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Southport F.C. players Kendal Town F.C. players Ramsbottom United F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players Radcliffe F.C. players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players Macclesfield F.C. players North West Counties Football League players Footballers from Bolton 21st-century English sportsmen