Ray Ashton (born 26 October 1960) is an English former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer and coach who played as a or . He started his career at

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

and went on to play for

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

before finishing his career at

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

and Bramley as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. He was also selected for the

1984 Great Britain Lions tour The 1984 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 17th tour of Australasia and took place from May to August 1984. A total of 24 matches were played against local club and representative sides during the tour, inc ...

Playing career

Oldham

Ashton started his professional career at

, signing from Widnes Tigers in 1979. He made his debut on 16 September 1979 in the

John Player Trophy The John Player Trophy was a golf tournament on the European Tour that was played in England. It was played twice. The first event in 1970 at Notts Golf Club in Nottinghamshire was the 36-hole qualifying event for the John Player Classic. In 19 ...

against

. While at Oldham, he was selected to play on the

, but did not feature in any

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

matches.

Leeds

In January 1987, Ashton was signed by

for a fee of around £40,000. He played in the 1987–88 John Player Special Trophy final for Leeds, losing 14–15 to St Helens. He was part of the team which won the

1988–89 Yorkshire Cup The 1988–89 Yorkshire Cup was the eighty-first occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup rugby league competition was held. Leeds won the trophy by beating the previous season's runner-up, Castleford, with a score of 33-12. The match was played at ...

, defeating

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

33–12 in the final at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

Coaching career

In July 1990, Ashton was appointed as

. In September 1991, he coached

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

in the

War of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He was sacked by Workington in December 1991. In September 1993, he was appointed in a player-coaching role by Bramley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Ray 1960 births Living people English rugby league players Rugby league players from Widnes Rugby league halfbacks Oldham R.L.F.C. players Leeds Rhinos players Workington Town players Bramley RLFC players Workington Town coaches Bramley R.L.F.C. coaches