Harrison Charles Ashby (born 14 November 2001) is a 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

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 ...

for club Swansea City, on loan from

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

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 ...

. Born in England, he is a youth international for Scotland.

Club career

West Ham United

Prior to signing for West Ham United at the age of nine, Ashby was on the books at Chelsea. Ashby signed his first professional contract with West Ham in the summer of 2020. He made his debut on 15 September 2020, replacing Ben Johnson in the 84th minute of the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

second round fixture versus

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

, a match won 3–0 by the

side. On 15 December 2021, Ashby made his Premier League debut as a substitute for

Pablo Fornals Pablo Fornals Malla (; born 22 February 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays mainly as an attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Betis and the Spain national team. He amassed La Liga totals of 129 matches and 12 goals over ...

in a 0–2 away defeat to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Newcastle United

On 31 January 2023, Ashby joined

for an undisclosed fee. The deal was later reported to be worth £3 million. On 4 August 2023, Ashby joined

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 ...

on a season-long loan.

International career

Ashby qualifies for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

due to Scottish grandparents on his mother's side, and has represented Scotland at under-17 and under-19 levels. On 23 September 2020, Ashby received his first Scotland U21 call-up. He scored his first goal for the U21s on 13 October 2020, rounding off the scoring in a 7–0 win away to

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

in a Euro U21 qualifier.

Style of play

Ashby's captain at West Ham,

Mark Noble Mark James Noble (born 8 May 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and is well remembered for his time at English club West Ham United, spending eighteen years with the club. Apart from two sh ...

, has praised Ashby's "real physical stature" and his technical ability, saying "technically he is also very good, and for him it’s just about getting that experience around us and around the first team. When he’s come in, he has looked really strong. He fully deserved his Premier League debut this year".

Personal life

Ashby is the son of former

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and Gillingham defender Barry Ashby.

Career statistics

References

2001 births Living people English men's footballers Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders West Ham United F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Premier League players Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers English people of Scottish descent Swansea City A.F.C. players English Football League players {{Scotland-footy-bio-stub