Ashley Shane Sestanovich (born 18 September 1981) is an English former professional
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 ...
who played as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
from 2000 to 2006. He played in the
Football League for
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
,
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
and
Chester City.
Career
Early career
Sestanovich began his career as a junior playing in
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
's youth team setup. He moved to
Manchester City in 1999, but failed to break into the first team and was released after a year with the club. He eventually earned a professional contract in Belgium when he signed with
Royal Antwerp
Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...
, however he failed to make a single appearance and was released after less than a year.
He headed south and joined French side
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
on a trial period but failed to earn a contract. After this, the Republic of Ireland called and Sestanovich found himself as part of a bizarre attempt to get
League of Ireland
The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...
status for Mullingar Town, a small team who operated from the
County Westmeath capital town
Mullingar
Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census.
The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmeath ...
, but the club failed to break into Ireland's top division and Sestanovich departed for England.
Sheffield United
Sestanovich dipped his toes in
non-League football, when he signed for
Isthmian League club
Hampton & Richmond in the summer of 2002. After scoring 4 goals in 16 matches for Hampton, he was scouted by both
Stockport County
Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...
and
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
, with the former
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
side United eventually snapping Sestanovich up for a small fee. ''Blades'' boss
Neil Warnock considered that it was in his and their best interests to loan him out to other clubs to gain some first team experience, and so during the 2003–04 season he signed for
Conference National side
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
. His time with the club was relatively successful, helping them reach the fourth round of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
, where they narrowly lost 1–0 at home to Premier League side
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
1–0 in a televised game.
In the previous round, Sestanovich had scored the winner to dump
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
out of the competition. Whilst with the ''Seadogs'', he managed to score three goals in twelve games. Sestanovich was voted Player of the Round for his display against Port Vale (where he scored the winner for Scarborough) in the second round proper of the FA Cup. As a result, he was included in the first ever Team of the FA Cup for the
2003–04 season with, amongst others,
Lee Trundle
Lee Christopher Trundle (born 10 October 1976) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Cymru South side Ammanford. He also works as the club ambassador and youth team coach for Championship side Swansea City.
Trundle's career bega ...
.
Grimsby Town
Sestanovich returned to Sheffield United and playing in two games in April 2004, before being made available for loan again in the 2004–05 season. Rumours circulated that Sestanovich was about to sign with
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
following the appointment of former Scarborough manager
Russell Slade
Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage.
Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional ...
as the new boss of Grimsby. One week later, Slade brought in Sestanovich on a season-long loan deal. Although initially becoming popular amongst supporters, Sestanovich left Grimsby abruptly following numerous on and off the field incidents in which he refused to be a substitute in a match against
Swansea City, which led to him leaving the stadium without permission, receiving a four match ban for verbally abusing a referee, several driving offences and getting sent off four minutes after coming on as a substitute in a match with
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
. He had his loan terminated five months early and was transfer listed by parent club Sheffield United, who went on to release him from his contract the following week. Several days later, he joined
Gillingham on trial but failed to earn a contract, joining
Chester City instead on a short-term deal. He made his debut against Grimsby, but only went on to make six more appearances before being released.
Later career
Following a failed trial in Scotland with
Dundee and one with
Gravesend & Nortfleet, Sestanovich signed for
Farnborough Town
Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road.
H ...
, before he signed with
Grays Athletic
Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley.
History
The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...
in June 2006.
Personal life
Sestanovich was born in
Lambeth, London, of
Croatian and
Grenadian descent.
Sestanovich stood in for
Thierry Henry
Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...
during filming for a
Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
advert in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. The boyhood
Arsenal fan told the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
when I was filming an advert for a Nike commercial in Rome and I played the part of his body double. I met all the players – the likes of
were all there.
and Thierry Henry were there from Arsenal and it was great to see them face-to-face – but I would like to meet them on the pitch at some point." Sestanovich also acted as Henry's body double for a series of TV adverts for
cars.
In 2006, Sestanovich was arrested and charged with conspiracy to rob from a roofing firm in
in June 2005 that resulted in the murder of a man who was shot in the chest during the raid. In April 2007, he was found guilty and sentenced to eight years in prison which subsequently ended his professional football career after Grays terminated his contract. Grays were ordered by
.