| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1939-03-10)10 March 1939 | ||
| Place of birth | Fazakerley,Liverpool, England | ||
| Date of death | 25 September 2021(2021-09-25) (aged 82) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1954–1957 | Liverpool | ||
| 1957 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| 1957 | Prescot Cables | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1957–1970 | Sunderland | 409 | (4) |
| 1970–1973 | Hartlepool United | 46 | (2) |
| Total | 455 | (6) | |
| International career | |||
| 1956–1957 | England Youth | 7 | (0) |
| 1961 | England U23 | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1971–1974 | Hartlepool United | ||
| 1974–1975 | Gillingham | ||
| 1975–1977 | Sheffield Wednesday | ||
| 1978–1982 | Newport County | ||
| 1982–1984 | Cardiff City | ||
| 1984–1985 | Sunderland | ||
| 1988–1989 | Al-Wakrah | ||
| 1989–1991 | Cardiff City | ||
| 1991–1992 | Pahang | ||
| 1992–1993 | Weymouth | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Leonard Ashurst (10 March 1939 – 25 September 2021) was an Englishfootball player, manager and administrator.
He spent most of his playing career withSunderland, making 458 appearances, the second most in the club's history. He retired atHartlepool United, where he began managing. Ashurst also managed Sunderland, won theWelsh Cup withNewport County in1980, and had two spells atCardiff City.
Ashurst was inducted into theLeague Managers Association Hall of Fame in 2014. After his managerial career, he was an administrator atThe Football Association and a match delegate for thePremier League.
Leonard was born on 10 March 1939 inFazakerley,Liverpool, to Elsie and Joseph Ashurst.[1] Initially a centre-half, he was moved to left-back by Liverpool Schoolboys as the team were short on naturally left-footed players, and helped the side to win the English Schools Trophy with an 8–1 aggregate win over Southampton Schoolboys.[2] He was signed to the ground staff atLiverpool in 1954.[2] He also worked as an apprentice compositor in the printing trade.[3] He won seven caps for the England youth team in the 1956–57 season.[3] Despite this international recognition he was not offered a professional contract by Liverpool managerPhil Taylor, and instead joinedWolverhampton Wanderers on amateur terms.[4] Whilst playing third team football for Wolves, Ashurst was approached bySunderland coachGeorge Curtis, who promised him a professional contract at the club.[5] In order to gain release from Wolves, Ashurst told managerStan Cullis he wanted to leave professional football to continue his printing apprenticeship and to play for localLancashire Combination teamPrescot Cables; Cullis agreed, and Ashurst subsequently moved from Prescot Cables to Sunderland.[6]
Ashurst signed professional forms at Sunderland on 27 December 1957, and made his debut for thereserve team the following day.[7] ManagerAlan Brown handed him his first team debut on 20 September 1958, in a 2–0 defeat toIpswich Town atRoker Park;Jim McNab andCecil Irwin also made their senior debuts in the match.[8] Brown was in the process of dismantling the team that had been relegated the previous season, and Ashurst went on to feature in a total of 33Second Division matches across the1958–59 campaign.[9] He was called up to theEngland under-23 team on 15 March 1961, in a 4–1 victory overGermany atWhite Hart Lane.[10]
Following the abolition of themaximum wage in January 1961, Ashurst signed a new contract at £40-per-week the following summer.[11] He went on to make 458 appearances for the club; putting him second in the all time appearances list in Sunderland's history, and one of only two outfield players to top 400 appearances.[12] He scored four Sunderland goals during his time at the club.[13] In the late sixties, alongsideJimmy Montgomery,Cecil Irwin,Martin Harvey,Charlie Hurley andJim McNab, Ashurst formed one of the most notable and most settled back fives in Sunderland's history.[14]
After receiving atestimonial match againstNewcastle United, Ashurst was given a free-transfer toHartlepool United where he became a player-manager.[15] He ended his playing career in the 1972–73 season while at Hartlepool, and subsequently remained manager until May 1974 when he was appointed manager ofGillingham.[16]
Ashurst managedGillingham,Sheffield Wednesday,Newport County andCardiff City before returning to Sunderland as manager in March 1984.[17]
Ashurst was appointed manager of Newport County in 1978 following the departure ofColin Addison toWest Bromwich Albion.[18] Ashurst was manager from 1978 to 1982, the most successful period in the club's history.[19] Newport were promoted to the Third Division in the1979–80 season and won theWelsh Cup, entitling them to play in the 1980–81 seasonEuropean Cup Winners' Cup, reaching the quarter-finals.[20] Ashurst was sacked by Newport County in February 1982 and Addison returned as team manager.[21] The team, largely assembled by Ashurst, attained Newport County's highest post-war finish in the 1982–83 season, 4th in theThird Division, narrowly missing out on promotion.[22]
His time as Sunderland manager was not successful, despite his taking them to their first everLeague Cup final.[23] Performance in the league was poor and Sunderland were relegated from thefirst division. Ashurst was sacked in May 1985.[24]
After the Sunderland job, Ashurst went on to become a coach withKuwait national football team and later theQatar national football team.[25] He was manager of Qatari clubAl-Wakrah and also coached in Malaysia.[26]
After returning to England, he was assistant manager ofBlackpool, and then in September 1989 he returned for a second spell as manager ofCardiff City following the departure ofFrank Burrows.[27] He spent two years in Ninian Park before resigning in 1991 as the team struggled both on and off the pitch.[28] His last managerial role was a one-year stay atWeymouth.[29]
From the mid-1990s, Ashurst became heavily involved in an administrator's role atthe Football Association specifically with regard to the Academy system.[30] In 2002, he became aPremier League match delegate, and was tasked with assessing match officials.[31] He was inducted into the League Managers' Association Hall of Fame in 2014.[32]
Ashurst married Valerie in her home village ofEast Rainton in May 1961.[10]
He died on 25 September 2021, at the age of 82.[33]
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Sunderland | 1958–59 | Second Division | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| 1959–60 | Second Division | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | |
| 1960–61 | Second Division | 40 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 1 | |
| 1961–62 | Second Division | 42 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 51 | 0 | |
| 1962–63 | Second Division | 40 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 51 | 0 | |
| 1963–64 | Second Division | 42 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 1 | |
| 1964–65 | First Division | 39 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 2 | |
| 1965–66 | First Division | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
| 1966–67 | First Division | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |
| 1967–68 | First Division | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| 1968–69 | First Division | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
| 1969–70 | First Division | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 0 | |
| Total | 409 | 4 | 26 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 458 | 4 | ||
| Hartlepool | 1970–71 | Fourth Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 1971–72 | Fourth Division | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 2 | |
| 1972–73 | Fourth Division | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 46 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 455 | 6 | 31 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 511 | 6 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Hartlepool | 1 March 1971 | 1 June 1974 | 164 | 50 | 41 | 73 | 030.5 |
| Gillingham | 1 June 1974 | 15 October 1975 | 60 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 035.0 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 15 October 1975 | 5 October 1977 | 104 | 38 | 28 | 38 | 036.5 |
| Newport County[35] | 1 June 1978 | 8 February 1982 | 194 | 80 | 48 | 66 | 041.2 |
| Cardiff City | 3 March 1982 | 1 March 1984 | 102 | 46 | 19 | 37 | 045.1 |
| Sunderland | 4 March 1984 | 23 May 1985 | 66 | 21 | 16 | 29 | 031.8 |
| Cardiff City | 31 August 1989 | 1 May 1991 | 98 | 30 | 32 | 36 | 030.6 |
| Total | 788 | 286 | 204 | 298 | 036.3 | ||
General
Specific
Len Ashurst managerial positions | |||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |
