Jimmy Ashcroft
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Ashcroft | ||
| Date of birth | 12 September 1878 | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Date of death | 9 April 1943 (aged 64) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Wilbyn's United | |||
| Anfield Recreation Club | |||
| Garston Copperworks | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1897–1899 | Everton | 0 | (0) |
| 1899–1900 | Gravesend United | ||
| 1900–1908 | Woolwich Arsenal | 273 | (0) |
| 1908–1913 | Blackburn Rovers | 114 | (0) |
| 1913–1915 | Tranmere Rovers | ||
| International career | |||
| 1906 | England | 3 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
James Ashcroft (12 September 1878 – 9 April 1943) was an English football goalkeeper.
Born in
the Football League
, and signed as a professional for the Gunners in June 1900.
Ashcroft immediately made his debut against
1901–02, Ashcroft kept 17 clean sheets in 34 League matches for Woolwich Arsenal, including six clean sheets in a row (a club record, that has only been equalled once since, by Alex Manninger in 1998); Arsenal finished fourth in the Second Division
that season, and third the season after that.
Ashcroft kept 20 clean sheets in
1906–07 FA Cup semi-finals twice with Ashcroft in goal, and he also won three caps for England, playing in all three of England's British Home Championship matches of 1906 (England won twice and lost once, sharing the 1905–06 championship with Scotland
). Ashcroft thus was Arsenal's first England international.
In all, Ashcroft played 303 first-class games in eight seasons for Arsenal. He was sold to
1911–12
. In 1913 he was released by Blackburn on a free transfer; unable to find a club, he had to place an advertisement in The Athletic News, which read:
- J Ashcroft, goalkeeper, Blackburn Rovers, open for engagement; free transfer – Willaston Road, Walton, Liverpool.
Ashcroft eventually signed for Tranmere Rovers, where he played for one more season before World War I intervened and all first-class football was halted; he seems to have retired from playing football at that point. He died in 1943, aged 64.
References
- Harris, Jeff (1995). Hogg, Tony (ed.). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4.
External links
- Jimmy Ashcroft at Englandstats.com
