Kevin Ashcroft (born 5 June 1944) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and Lancashire, and at club level for the Rochdale Hornets,

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

, Warrington and Salford, as a . and coached at club level for

(two spells) and Salford. Ashcroft is a Warrington Hall of Fame inductee.

Playing career

Rochdale Hornets

Ashcroft played in Rochdale Hornets' 5-16 defeat by Warrington in the

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

Lancashire

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1965–66 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens on Friday 29 October 1965.

Leigh

Ashcroft played in

's 5-8 defeat by Castleford in the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy The BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy (also known as the BBC 2 Television Trophy) was a competition for British rugby league clubs held between 1965 and 1980. It was designed specifically for television, and the then director of BBC2, broadcaster David Att ...

Final during the 1967–68 season at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds on Saturday 16 January 1968, played in the 11-6 victory over Wigan in the

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Final during the 1969–70 season at Central Park, Wigan on Tuesday 16 December 1969. He played in

's 2-11 defeat by Swinton in the

Lancashire

Final during the 1969–70 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 1 November 1969, and played in the 7-4 victory over St. Helens in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

Lancashire

Final during the 1970–71 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 28 November 1970. Ashcroft played in

's 24-7 victory over Leeds in the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1970–71 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 15 May 1971, in front of a crowd of 85,514.

Warrington

He played in Warrington's 24-9 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Final during the 1973–74 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 11 May 1974, in front of a crowd of 77,400, and played in the 7-14 defeat by Widnes in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Final during the 1974–75 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 10 May 1975, in front of a crowd of 85,998. He played in Warrington's 0-0 draw with by Salford in the

Final during the 1974–75 season at The Willows, Salford on Tuesday 17 December 1974, played in the 5-10 defeat by Salford in the

Final

replay Replay may refer to: * Replay (sports), a replayed match between two sport teams Technology * Game replay, a recording of a game session. * Instant replay, in motion pictures and television, a showing again of part of a film * Replay Professional, ...

during the 1974–75 season at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington on Tuesday 28 January 1975. Ashcroft played , was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and was man of the match in Warrington's 27-16 victory over Rochdale Hornets in the 1973–74 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1973–74 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 9 February 1974, Ashcroft gave his £25 man of the match prize to Wigan's groundsman Billy Mitchell who had managed to get the water-logged pitch into a playable condition,Harry Edgar ''Rugby League In The Seventies'', Rugby League Journal Publishing, 29 November 2013. . page-87. (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £442.70 in 2014). Ashcroft played in Warrington's 4-0 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the 1973–74

Captain Morgan Trophy The Captain Morgan Trophy was a knock-out trophy introduced by the Rugby League for season 1973-74. It was scrapped after only one season. Background The Captain Morgan Trophy was a knock-out trophy introduced by the Rugby League supposedly inten ...

Final during the 1973–74 season at

The Willows The Willows may refer to: Places * The Willows, El Paso, Texas, USA * The Willows, Queensland, a town in Australia * The Willows, Salford, home of Salford Rugby League club in Salford, England, UK * The Willows, Saskatoon, a residential community ...

, Salford on Saturday 26 January 1974, in front of a crowd of 5,259.

Return to Leigh

Ashcroft played , was the

, and scored a drop goal in

's 4-12 defeat by Castleford in the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Final during the 1976–77 season at Hilton Park,

on Tuesday 14 December 1976.

International honours

On 3 April 1965, Ashcroft played in the first ever Great Britain under-24 international match in a 17–9 win against France under-24's. Ashcroft won caps for Great Britain while at Leigh in the

1968 Rugby League World Cup The 1968 Rugby League World Cup tournament was the fourth staging of the Rugby League World Cup, and was held in Australia and New Zealand during May and June in 1968. Contested by the men's national rugby league football teams of the two host ...

against Australia, in 1968 against France, in 1969 against France, in the

1970 Rugby League World Cup The fifth Rugby League World Cup was held in Great Britain in 1970. Britain, fresh from defeating Australia in the Rugby League Ashes, Ashes during their Australasian tour earlier in the year (the last time as of 2017 that they would win The Ash ...

against France, and New Zealand, and on the

1974 Great Britain Lions tour The 1974 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 15th tour of Australasia and took place from May to August 1974. A total of 28 matches were played against local club and representative sides during the tour, inc ...

against New Zealand ( interchange/ substitute).

Coaching career

County Cup Final appearances

Ashcroft was the

in Warrington's 16–0 victory over St. Helens in the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

Lancashire

Final during the 1982–83 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 23 October 1982, and the

in Salford's 17–22 defeat by Wigan in the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Lancashire

Final during the 1988–89 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens on Sunday 23 October 1988.

References

Last of the Dinosaurs: The Kevin Ashcroft Story

External links

Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk (statistics currently missing due to not having appeared for both Great Britain, and England)Statistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.ukStatistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk (martini)
* (archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
* (archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk (martini)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashcroft, Kevin 1944 births Living people Blackpool Panthers coaches Dewsbury Rams players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Leigh Leopards captains Leigh Leopards coaches Leigh Leopards players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside Rugby league props Salford Red Devils coaches Salford Red Devils players Warrington Wolves coaches Warrington Wolves players