Sam Ashford

Samuel Kenneth Ashford (born 21 December 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre forward or winger for NIFL Premiership club Cliftonville.

Sam Ashford
Personal information
Full name Samuel Kenneth Ashford[1]
Date of birth (1995-12-21) 21 December 1995[2]
Place of birth Chelmsford, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3]
Position(s) Centre forward, winger
Team information
Current team
 Cliftonville
Number 20
Youth career
Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Maldon & Tiptree 8 (0)
2015 Heybridge Swifts 7 (0)
2015–2017 Stansted 59 (21)
2017 Witham Town 8 (1)
2017–2018 Brightlingsea Regent 12 (1)
2018 Witham Town 17 (8)
2019 East Thurrock United 10 (2)
2019 Concord Rangers 8 (3)
2019 Witham Town 20 (10)
2019–2020 Hemel Hempstead Town 29 (17)
2020–2022 Crawley Town 20 (4)
2021 → Woking (loan) 14 (6)
2022–2023 Ayr United 45 (4)
2023- Cliftonville 5 (1)
International career‡
2018 England C 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:51, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

He played for Tottenham Hotspur's academy before starting his career non-league football with Maldon & Tiptree in 2014. He later played for Heybridge Swifts, Stansted, Witham Town and Brightlingsea Regent before joining National League South side East Thurrock United in 2019. He also played at this level with Concord Rangers and Hemel Hempstead Town before joining EFL League Two club Crawley Town in summer 2020. He had a loan spell at Woking in the National League in 2021 before joining Scottish Championship club Ayr United in January 2022. He is a former England C international.

Early life

Ashford was born in Chelmsford.[3]

Club career

Ashford joined the academy of Tottenham Hotspur at the age of 8 before being released by the club at under-14 level.[4][5]

After spells with Maldon & Tiptree, Heybridge Swifts and Essex Senior League side Stansted,[6][7][8] where he scored 32 goals in 68 appearances,[3] Ashford joined Witham Town in 2017.[7] In November 2017, Ashford joined Brightlingsea Regent,[9] before leaving the club in February 2018, having made only a handful of appearances as a result of injury.[10] He rejoined Witham Town later that year.[11]

In January 2019, Ashford joined National League South side East Thurrock United,[12] before joining fellow National League South side and local rivals Concord Rangers later that year, where he made 8 appearances, scoring 3 goals.[13][14] While signed to Concord Rangers he returned briefly to Witham Town for the final game of the 2018–19 season, scoring in that game, after Concord failed to make the play-offs.[15] Ashford signed for fellow National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town in the summer of 2019.[16] Ashford scored for Hemel on the opening game of the 2019–20 season in a 4–1 victory over Hungerford Town.[17] He scored 10 goals in 29 league appearances across the 2019–20 season.[18]

Crawley Town

Following the expiry of his contract at Hemel Hempstead Town, Ashford joined League Two side Crawley Town in summer 2020 on a two-year contract.[19][20] On his debut for the club on 5 September, Ashford scored Crawley's only goal of their 3–1 home defeat to Millwall in the EFL Cup.[21] After 14 appearances for Crawley,[22] Ashford joined Woking on loan until the end of the season on 5 March 2021.[23] He scored his first goal for Woking the following day on his debut, heading in the opening goal of a 3–0 win over King's Lynn Town.[24]

He scored his first league goal for Crawley in a 2–2 draw with Harrogate Town on 21 September 2021.[25] He scored twice in 15 matches for Crawley during the 2021–22 season.[25]

Ayr United

On 29 January 2022, Ashford signed for Scottish Championship club Ayr United on a free transfer.[26] He signed an 18-month contract with the club.[27] He made his debut later that day as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with Hamilton Academical, and scored Ayr's equaliser 7 minutes after coming on as a substitute.[28]

International career

He made two appearances for the England C team in 2018.[11]

Playing style

Ashford plays as a centre forward and winger.[4]

Personal life

His father Mark Ashford is manager of non-league club Witham Town; Sam played under Mark at the club.[15][11]

Career statistics
As of match played 29 January 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Maldon & Tiptree 2014–15[29] Isthmian League Division One North 8000—0080
Heybridge Swifts 2014–15[30] Isthmian League Division One North 5000—0050
2015–16[30] Isthmian League Division One North 2000—1[lower-alpha 3]030
Total 7000001080
Stansted 2015–16[31] Essex Senior League 31800—40358
2016–17[31] Essex Senior League 281300—102913
Total 59210000506421
Witham Town 2017–18[32] Isthmian League Division One North 8111—3[lower-alpha 4]0122
Brightlingsea Regent 2017–18[33] Isthmian League Premier Division 12100—00121
Witham Town 2018–19[34] Isthmian League North Division 17810—3[lower-alpha 5]32311
East Thurrock United 2018–19[18] National League South 10200—00102
Concord Rangers 2018–19[18] National League South 8300—0083
Witham Town 2018–19[34] Isthmian League North Division 1100—0011
Hemel Hempstead Town 2019–20[8] National League South 291010—5[lower-alpha 6]43514
Crawley Town 2020–21[22] League Two 8020113[lower-alpha 7]0141
2021–22[25] League Two 12100112[lower-alpha 7]0152
Total 201202250293
Woking (loan) 2020–21[18] National League 14400—1[lower-alpha 8]0154
Ayr United 2021–22[18] Scottish Championship 1100000011
Career total 19453512223722463
  1. Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup, Scottish League Cup
  3. 1 appearance in Alan Turvey Trophy
  4. 1 appearance in FA Trophy, 1 appearance in Alan Turvey Trophy, 1 appearance in Essex Senior Cup
  5. 3 appearances and 1 goal in FA Trophy, 1 appearance in Alan Turvey Trophy, 1 appearance and 1 goal in Essex Senior Cup
  6. 1 appearance and 2 goals in the FA Trophy; 4 appearances and 2 goals in the Herts Senior Cup
  7. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  8. 1 appearance in FA Trophy

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Crawley Town" (PDF). English Football League. 11 September 2020. p. 24. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  2. Sam Ashford at Soccerbase
  3. "Winger Sam Ashford signs with ACHIEVE". Achieve Management. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  4. "Former Tottenham academy player joins Crawley Town". www.sussexexpress.co.uk.
  5. Dunford, Mark (28 September 2021). "Crawley Town and former Tottenham Hotspur forward on making the step up from Non League football". Crawley and Horley Observer. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  6. "Ashford Strengthens Stansted Squad". Pitchero Non-League. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  7. "Sam Ashford". Witham Town F.C. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  8. "Sam Ashford". www.aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  9. "Brightlingsea Regent bring in attacker Ashford". Non League Daily. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  10. "Ashford & Newman Leave Regent". Pitchero Non-League. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  11. Spurgeon, Simon (16 November 2018). "Witham Town's Sam Ashford will have gained a great deal from playing for England". Braintree & Witham Times. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  12. Spurgeon, Simon (1 January 2019). "Sam's move to East Thurock can inspire others at Witham". Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  13. Rust, Danny (2 April 2019). "Sam Ashford is confident of Concord Rangers' play-off prospects". Canvey Echo. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  14. "Sam Ashford". Concord Rangers F.C. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  15. "Special family moment capped Witham's glorious day for Ashford". Braintree and Witham Times.
  16. "More new signings for new Tudors' boss Moore". Hemel Gazette. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  17. Mitchell, Allan (4 August 2019). "Moore's new boys get the Tudors' season off to an impressive start". Hemel Gazette. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  18. Sam Ashford at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  19. "Reds snap up Sam Ashford on a 2 year deal". Crawley Town F.C. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  20. "Former Tottenham academy player joins Crawley Town". Crawley and Horley Observer. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  21. "Crawley Town 1–3 Millwall". BBC Sport. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  22. "Games played by Sam Ashford in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  23. O'Sullivan, Daniel (5 March 2021). "Cards Sign Striker Duo". wokingfc.co.uk. Woking F.C. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  24. Lakey, Chris (6 March 2021). "Loza comes back to haunt Linnets". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  25. "Games played by Sam Ashford in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  26. Dunford, Mark. "Crawley Town forward and former Spurs youth player joins Scottish Championship side Ayr United". Crawley and Horley Observer. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  27. Wilson, Stuart (29 January 2022). "New Ayr signing Sam Ashford on fallling back in love with game after Spurs exit". Daily Record. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  28. "Hamilton Academical 1–1 Ayr United: Visitors fight back after hosts miss penalty". BBC Sport. 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  29. "Sam Ashford — Maldon & Tiptree 1st Team". www.pitchero.com.
  30. "Heybridge Swifts | Appearances | Sam Ashford | 2014-2015 | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk.
  31. "Stats for a player: Samuel Ashford". FA Fulltime. Retrieved 21 October 2020. Select season via dropdown menu.
  32. "Sam Ashford — Witham Town Football Club 1st team". www.pitchero.com.
  33. "Sam Ashford". www.brightlingsearegentfc.com.
  34. "Sam Ashford — Witham Town Football Club 1st team". www.pitchero.com.
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