Ashley Roy Westwood (born 1 April 1990) is an English 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 le ...

who plays as a

defensive 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 ...

for

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Charlotte FC Charlotte FC is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the expansion franchise ...

. Westwood's first club was

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, where he spent his first season on loan at his hometown club

Nantwich Town Nantwich Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1884 and is nicknamed ''The Dabbers'', a reference to the town's tanning industry. They currently compete in and play ...

from the

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

. After five seasons and 128 league appearances in

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

and

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

for Crewe, Westwood joined

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 Foo ...

club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

where he scored his first Premier League goal in his second season with them. Six months after Villa dropped out of the Premier League, Westwood joined Burnley, returning to the Premier League in the process. He was Burnley's Player of the Season for 2018–19. He joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

in January 2023.

Career

Crewe Alexandra

Born in

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, Westwood started his career in the academy at

. He signed his first professional contract in April 2008, along with Luke Danville, Chris Clements, Josh Thompson,

A-Jay Leitch-Smith Jay Leitch-Smith (born 6 March 1990), known as A-Jay Leitch-Smith, is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Hyde United. A graduate of the Academy at Crewe Alexandra, he played on loan for Halifax Town, Newcastle ...

and

Luke Murphy Luke John Murphy (born 21 October 1989) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Northern Premier League, Northern Premier League Division One West side Macclesfield F.C., Macclesfield. He is a ...

. He joined hometown club

, playing in the

, on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

in 2008. The following season saw Westwood break into first team appearing 38 times for the club along with six goals – the first coming in a 3–2 away win at

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. The season, however, did see Westwood receive his first career red card in the 0–1 home defeat to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

for squaring up to

Luke Rodgers Luke John Rodgers (born 1 January 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played in England's Football League, starting at Shrewsbury Town in 1999. Rodgers spent six years with the Shropshire side and made ...

after the pair tussled for the ball, the County striker was sent off for the incident as well. The young midfielder impressed the Crewe management over the season and was rewarded with a new two-year contract in December and his performances over the season were rewarded with him named the club's player of the season. A further 46 appearances followed in the 2010–11 season along with six goals, including two in the 3–3 home draw to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. Following a string of impressive performances, Westwood signed a new deal intended to keep him at the club until 2014 midway through the campaign. With the release of

David Artell David John Artell (born 22 November 1980) is a professional football manager and former player who most recently was manager of club Crewe Alexandra. He began his career as a centre back with Rotherham United, as the "Millers" won successive p ...

in the summer of 2012, Westwood was handed the club captaincy of

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

by manager

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...

. The young midfielder made three league appearances before he was linked with a move to the

with

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. "It's the first time he'll have had this sort of speculation in his career", Crewe manager Steve Davis commented before adding: "he's got to be professional in how he deals with it".

Aston Villa

Despite the speculation of a transfer to

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, talks between the two clubs broke down as the South Wales club was unable to match the asking price set by the Railwaymen. With talks of the deal reaching a stumbling block,

were quick to capitalise and signed the midfielder on the final day of the summer 2012 transfer window. Westwood signed on a four-year deal with the

based club for a fee believed to be around £2 million. Ashley Westwood 2013

He made his debut on 15 September 2012, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Stephen Ireland Stephen James Ireland (born 22 August 1986) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Ireland began his career with Cobh Ramblers before joining English club Manchester City in 2001. He made his profess ...

during a 2–0 win at home to Swansea City. On 3 November, Westwood made his first league start for Villa in a 1–0 win away at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. The young midfielder was highly praised for his role in the win, alongside

Barry Bannan Barry Ryan Bannan (born 1 December 1989) is a Scottish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League One club Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday. Bannan began his career at Albion Rovers F.C., ...

. On 15 July 2013, Westwood signed a new four-year contract keeping him at the club until summer 2017. He scored his first goal for the club against local rivals

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

in a 2–2 draw at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...

. On 29 March 2014, he scored in a 4–1 defeat away to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. On 3 May 2014, Westwood scored after 54 seconds against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

in a 3–1 home victory that helped ensure Villa avoided relegation. On 12 August 2015 Westwood signed a new five-year contract.

Burnley

On 31 January 2017, Westwood signed for Premier League club

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on a three-and-a-half-year contract, with the option of a further year. He scored his first goal for Burnley on 10 March 2019, opening the scoring direct from a corner in a 4–2 defeat by

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

. He was voted Burnley's player of the season for 2018–19 by both supporters and players. On 3 October 2020, Westwood scored on his 100th Premier League appearance for Burnley in a 3–1 defeat against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Park ...

. During Burnley's game against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

at the London Stadium on 17 April 2022, Westwood suffered a serious ankle injury in a collision with

Nikola Vlašić Nikola Vlašić (; born 4 October 1997) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie A club Torino, on loan from Premier League club West Ham United, and the Croatia national team. Born in the Vlašić fa ...

, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

Charlotte

On 7 January 2023, Westwood signed for

club

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

on a contract until 2024.

Playing style

Westwood operates primarily as a

deep-lying playmaker 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 ...

although he is capable of playing in a role higher up the midfield as well as

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. After his transfer to Aston Villa, Westwood compared himself to

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently head coach of Middlesbrough. He is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and is best known for his 12-year p ...

adding that he is "someone who stays out of the limelight and keeps it simple, retaining the ball and laying it off to team-mates".

Career statistics

References

External links

Ashley Westwood profile
at the Burnley F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Westwood, Ashley 1990 births Living people People from Nantwich Sportspeople from Cheshire English footballers Association football midfielders Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Nantwich Town F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Charlotte FC players Northern Premier League players English Football League players Premier League players FA Cup Final players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Major League Soccer players