Eric Ashton
Encyclopedia
Eric Ashton MBE was an English
professional Rugby League World Cup
-winning footballer of the 1950s and '60s and later a coach. He played his whole first grade football career for Wigan
along with at times both captaining and coaching them; his position of choice was right centre. Over the span of his career he came to be known as one of the best centres in the modern game and formed a devastating partnership with Billy Boston
somewhat because of this combination he went on to represent the Great Britain
national side making his debut in 1957. After his retirement from league in 1969, Ashton went on to coach Wigan as well as Leeds
, St. Helens and Great Britain
; he also had a brief stint as chairman of St Helens in 1996. He was a member of the St Helens board for fifteen years.
, Ashton began playing rugby league at an early age and it wasn't long before his talent became noticeable; he was signed to the St. Helens schoolboys side before joining the army
not long after. In 1954 Ashton was spotted playing rugby league during his national service
in the Army and was subsequently invited for a trial with rival club Wigan
. He attended the trial and was seen by the directors of the club as being a player with exceptional talent, after Wigan offered him a spot in their top level side Ashton offered his home town club St Helens the chance to sign him but they passed and he then signed for Wigan in 1955 for £150.
right winger Billy Boston
and formed one of the most devastating right-wing-threequarter partnerships of modern times. Such was the impact of both Ashton and Boston it led to Ashton being promoted as captain
of the Wigan side after just two years at the club at the age of 22. It was a position he would go onto hold for the next twelve years.
Ashton's honours and achievements are nothing short of impressive, with 3 victorious Wembley
Challenge Cup
finals (out of a possible six), a Championship in 1966, a Lancashire Challenge Cup and two Lancashire League Championships as well as a BBC Floodlit trophy.
Ashton was a true professional in every sense, being sent off just twice in his whole career and due to his professionalism, talent and intelligence he would go on to achieve a long and distinguished footballing career.
side against France
in 1957.
He would go on to collect a total of 26 caps for the Great Britain
side with his first Southern Hemisphere
tour coming in 1957 as the British side competed in the World Cup
. He would become somewhat immortalised as one of the players involved in the all-conquering British side of 1960, captaining Great Britain
to victory over the Australians on several occasions.
It's usually said that Ashton's greatest moment could have come in the 1962 tour to Australasia
when while captaining Great Britain to an almost complete whitewash over the Australians, a last minute refereeing decision ruined the chance of this occurring. In total Ashton captained the British
side 15 times.
of the Wigan club, a position that he held for a further six years before hanging up his boots as a player in 1969. He would continue on his managerial role at the club for another four years.
Following the 1973 season Ashton resigned his post as Wigan coach and moved to Leeds
for a short spell before moving on to coach St Helens from May 1974 to May 1980, including two Challenge Cup
finals in 1976 and 1978. In 1996 he was appointed Chairman of his old club and was at the helm when they won the double that year.
Prior to his death, Ashton was a director
at St. Helens for almost fifteen years.
, Eric Ashton was the first rugby league player to be honoured by the Queen. He was awarded the MBE
in June 1966.
In 2005 Ashton was also inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame
and the British Rugby League Hall of Fame
. He is also an inductee of the Wigan Hall of Fame.
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
professional Rugby League World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
-winning footballer of the 1950s and '60s and later a coach. He played his whole first grade football career for Wigan
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
along with at times both captaining and coaching them; his position of choice was right centre. Over the span of his career he came to be known as one of the best centres in the modern game and formed a devastating partnership with Billy Boston
Billy Boston
William John "Billy" Boston MBE is a former Wales and Great Britain professional Rugby League World Cup winning footballer. Boston is a member of the Rugby League Hall of Fame, Welsh Sports Hall of Fame and was, along with Shaun Edwards the first to be voted into the Wigan Hall Of Fame...
somewhat because of this combination he went on to represent the Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
national side making his debut in 1957. After his retirement from league in 1969, Ashton went on to coach Wigan as well as Leeds
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...
, St. Helens and Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
; he also had a brief stint as chairman of St Helens in 1996. He was a member of the St Helens board for fifteen years.
Childhood and early career
Born and brought up in St Helens, LancashireSt Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
, Ashton began playing rugby league at an early age and it wasn't long before his talent became noticeable; he was signed to the St. Helens schoolboys side before joining the army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
not long after. In 1954 Ashton was spotted playing rugby league during his national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in the Army and was subsequently invited for a trial with rival club Wigan
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
. He attended the trial and was seen by the directors of the club as being a player with exceptional talent, after Wigan offered him a spot in their top level side Ashton offered his home town club St Helens the chance to sign him but they passed and he then signed for Wigan in 1955 for £150.
Wigan
After signing for Wigan he quickly linked up with WelshWales national rugby league team
The Wales national rugby league team represent Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is seventh in the RLIF World Rankings. The team were run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an independent body, Wales Rugby League, now runs the team from...
right winger Billy Boston
Billy Boston
William John "Billy" Boston MBE is a former Wales and Great Britain professional Rugby League World Cup winning footballer. Boston is a member of the Rugby League Hall of Fame, Welsh Sports Hall of Fame and was, along with Shaun Edwards the first to be voted into the Wigan Hall Of Fame...
and formed one of the most devastating right-wing-threequarter partnerships of modern times. Such was the impact of both Ashton and Boston it led to Ashton being promoted as captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
of the Wigan side after just two years at the club at the age of 22. It was a position he would go onto hold for the next twelve years.
Ashton's honours and achievements are nothing short of impressive, with 3 victorious Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
finals (out of a possible six), a Championship in 1966, a Lancashire Challenge Cup and two Lancashire League Championships as well as a BBC Floodlit trophy.
Ashton was a true professional in every sense, being sent off just twice in his whole career and due to his professionalism, talent and intelligence he would go on to achieve a long and distinguished footballing career.
Great Britain
Ashton made his international debut at the age of 22 for the Great BritainGreat Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
side against France
France national rugby league team
The France national rugby league team represent France in international rugby league tournaments. They are also sometimes referred to as "Les Tricolores" or more commonly "Les Chanticleers"...
in 1957.
He would go on to collect a total of 26 caps for the Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
side with his first Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
tour coming in 1957 as the British side competed in the World Cup
1957 Rugby League World Cup
The second Rugby League World Cup was held in Australia in 1957. As before a group stage was held first, with matches being held at locations in Sydney and Brisbane....
. He would become somewhat immortalised as one of the players involved in the all-conquering British side of 1960, captaining Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
to victory over the Australians on several occasions.
It's usually said that Ashton's greatest moment could have come in the 1962 tour to Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
when while captaining Great Britain to an almost complete whitewash over the Australians, a last minute refereeing decision ruined the chance of this occurring. In total Ashton captained the British
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
side 15 times.
Point scoring summary
| Games | Tries | Goals | F/G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 497 | 231 | 448 | - | 1,589 |
Matches played
| Team | Matches | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Wigan | 497 | 1955–1969 |
| Great Britain | 26 | 1957–1969 |
Coaching
In 1963 he was appointed player-coachPlayer-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....
of the Wigan club, a position that he held for a further six years before hanging up his boots as a player in 1969. He would continue on his managerial role at the club for another four years.
Following the 1973 season Ashton resigned his post as Wigan coach and moved to Leeds
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...
for a short spell before moving on to coach St Helens from May 1974 to May 1980, including two Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
finals in 1976 and 1978. In 1996 he was appointed Chairman of his old club and was at the helm when they won the double that year.
Prior to his death, Ashton was a director
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
at St. Helens for almost fifteen years.
Honours
Due to his heroics in the Southern HemisphereSouthern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
, Eric Ashton was the first rugby league player to be honoured by the Queen. He was awarded the MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
in June 1966.
In 2005 Ashton was also inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame
Rugby League Hall of Fame
The Rugby League Hall of Fame is an International Hall of Fame that was combined and continually has additions from the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame, British Rugby League Hall of Fame, Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII and the...
and the British Rugby League Hall of Fame
British Rugby League Hall of Fame
The British Rugby League Hall of Fame was established by the Rugby Football League in 1988 to commemorate the greatest ever players in British rugby league...
. He is also an inductee of the Wigan Hall of Fame.
Death
On 20 March 2008 it was announced that Eric had died at the age of 73 after a long battle with cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.
External links
- Eric Ashton official Wigan profile
- Eric Ashton Wigan Career Page on the Wigan RL Fansite.
- Book of Condolence
- International Statistics at englandrl.co.uk
- Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
- Eric Ashton at narlvi.co.uk
- Eric Ashton dies aged 73 - article at The St. Helens Reporter, 20 March 2008
- RUGBY LEAGUE FINAL 1963
- Obituaries: