Ryan Marc Ashford (born 13 October 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 le ...

. He was born in

Honiton Honiton ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 11,822 (based on mid-year estimates for the two Honiton Ward ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. Ashford began his career as a trainee at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, making his first team debut for the Saints in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

game on 26 September 2000 against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

. He did not last the first 45 minutes as he received a knock and was stretchered from the field. Saints manager

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and Swi ...

was quoted as being an admirer of Ashford's "sweet left peg", but in March 2002, having failed to make another first team appearance, Ashford signed for

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 ...

on non-contract terms. He played twice for Torquay the following month, coming on as a late substitute for

Lee Canoville Leroy Paul Canoville (born 14 March 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. As a player he was a defender who began his career with Premier League side Arsenal, he went on to play in the Football League for Nort ...

in the 3–0 win at home to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

and starting the game at home to

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

, which Torquay lost 4–2, despite Ashford scoring the opening goal. Ashford was released by Torquay at the end of the seasonTorquay reduce squad by seven
and signed for Weymouth on 16 August 2002, moving on to

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

the following June. He remained with Eastleigh until October 2006 when he was released and joined VT F.C.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashford, Ryan 1981 births Living people People from Honiton English footballers Men's association football defenders Southampton F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Sholing F.C. players Lymington Town F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Devon