William Frank Ashurst (12 April 1948 – 14 June 2022) was an English 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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, 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 1980s. He played at representative level for

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and

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 Lancash ...

, and at club level for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

(two spells) ( Heritage № 662), the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

( Heritage № 100),

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

( Heritage № 850), and Runcorn Highfield, as a , or , and coached at club level for

, Runcorn Highfield and

Wigan St Patricks Wigan St. Patricks is an amateur rugby league football club based in the Scholes area of Wigan, Greater Manchester. The first team plays in the National Conference League Division One . In 1986, the club was one of ten founder members of the BA ...

ARLFC (Under-16s).

Early life

Ashurst was born on 12 April 1948, the son of Frank Goulding and Mary Anne Ashurst. He grew up in

Ince-in-Makerfield Ince-in-Makerfield or Ince is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the Ince ward at the 2011 census was 13,486, but a southern part of Ince was also listed under the Abram ward (north ...

, living with his mother and three elder sisters, and attended Rose Bridge Secondary Modern School. Ashurst was first introduced to

at the age of 10 when he watched the television broadcast of

's 13-9 victory over

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 ...

in the

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

Challenge Cup Final during the 1957–58 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on Saturday 10 May 1958. During his school years, he represented the Wigan Schoolboys teams in both rugby and football, and was offered a trial by

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

before deciding to focus on playing rugby league.

Playing career

Ashurst was signed by

from Rose Bridge ARLFC in August 1968. Ashurst played left-, i.e. number 4, in

's 7-4 victory over St. Helens in the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1968–69 season at

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on Tuesday 17 December 1968, played left-, i.e. number 11, in the 6-11 defeat by

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 ...

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 ...

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1969–70 season at

on Tuesday 16 December 1969, played , and was

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

winning the

Harry Sunderland Trophy The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded annually to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final. Named after Harry Sunderland, who was an Australian rugby league football administrator in both Australia and the United Kingdom, the Troph ...

, in the 12-16 defeat by St. Helens in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Final during the 1970–71 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 22 May 1971, played left- in the 15-8 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

in the 1971

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 1971–72 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hoste ...

, St. Helens, on Saturday 28 August 1971 and played left-, and scored a

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in the 13-16 defeat by

in the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

Final during the 1977–78 season at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, on Saturday 29 October 1977.

Penrith Panthers

In 1973, Ashurst was signed by the

for a record fee of £15,000, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £241,100 in 2013). While he played three seasons in the NSWRL, he became a popular figure with the new club and was notable for his prowess as a goal-kicker. This was partially due to his style of kicking: in an era where most Australian goal-kickers would approach the ball straight-on and use their toe to kick, Ashurst went "around the corner" and contacted the football with his instep, soccer-style. This produced both more power and a higher level of accuracy, and by the late 1980s most native Australian goal kickers (save for

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

) switched over to this method. In 2006, Ashurst was named in the Penrith's "Team of Legends".

Wakefield Trinity

Ashurst returned to Wigan in 1977, but was sold to

for another record fee of £18,000 in March 1978, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £136,200 in 2013). He played left-, i.e. number 11, in

's 3-12 defeat by

in the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

Challenge Cup Final during the 1978–79 season at

on Saturday 5 May 1979, in front of a crowd of a crowd of 94,218.Hoole, Les (2004). ''Wakefield Trinity RLFC – FIFTY GREAT GAMES''. Breedon Books. He retired from playing in 1982 due to a knee injury.

International honours

Bill Ashurst won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

while at Wigan in 1971 against Australia, and in 1972 against France (2 matches).

Coaching career

Ashurst coached

while still playing during the 1981–82 season. He then joined

as assistant coach to Alex Murphy. Ashurst also coached Runcorn Highfield between 1987 and 1989. Due to a players' strike, Ashurst came out of retirement to play in a match against former club Wigan in 1988. He was sent off during the game, and made no further appearances as a player.

Honours

Club

Wigan League Leaders Trophy (1): 1970–71

County League (1): 1969–70

(1): 1971 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy (1):

Individual

(1): 1971

References

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 wigan.rlfans.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashurst, Bill 1948 births 2022 deaths English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Liverpool City coaches Liverpool City (rugby league) players Penrith Panthers players Penrith Panthers captains People from Ince-in-Makerfield Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Wigan Rugby league second-rows Wakefield Trinity coaches Wakefield Trinity players Wigan Warriors players