Jimmy Ashcroft

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Jimmy Ashcroft
Personnel
Surname James Ashcroft
birthday September 12, 1878
place of birth LiverpoolEngland
date of death April 9, 1943
position goal
Juniors
Years station
Wilbyn's United
Anfield Recreation Club
Garston Copper Works
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1897-1899 Everton FC 0 (0)
1899-1900 Gravesend United
1900-1908 Woolwich Arsenal 273 (0)
1908-1913 Blackburn Rovers 114 (0)
1913– Tranmere Rovers
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1906 England 3 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

James "Jimmy" Ashcroft (born September 12, 1878 in Liverpool , England , † April 9, 1943 ) was an English football goalkeeper .

Ashcroft, who was born in Liverpool, first played for various teams in the region, was also briefly active as an amateur at Everton FC before he moved south, where he played in the Southern League for Gravesend United in 1899 . There he discovered the nearby club Woolwich Arsenal , who played in the professional league Football League . In June 1900, Ashcroft signed his first professional contract with the Gunners.

On September 5, 1900 Ashcroft made his debut in the game against the Burton Swifts . Although the encounter was lost 1-0, Ashcroft was a regular straight away and held this position for the rest of the season and the subsequent season. He completed 17 of the 34 championship games in the 1901/02 season without conceding. During this time there was also a series of six successive "zero games", which meant a club record until 1998 ( Alexander Manninger then set this record). The Arsenal FC closed the table in fifth place in the second-rate Second Division this season and a third place followed in the following season.

With 20 games without conceding a goal - also a club record - Arsenal rose to the First Division with Ashcroft at the end of the 1903/04 season and when the goalkeeper made his 154th consecutive appearance in the 1904/05 season, this was also one Record within the club that was only improved by Tom Parker over two decades later . In the two seasons 1905/06 and 1906/07 Arsenal reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup with Ashcroft between the posts. In addition, the Arsenal goalkeeper was used in all three games of the English national team during the British Home Championship (England won two games and lost another, which meant they won this competition together with Scotland ). With these appearances, Ashcroft was also the first England international from the ranks of Arsenal FC. However, there were no more international matches for him.

Ashcroft played a total of 303 games in eight seasons for Arsenal FC. Since the club oppressed massive financial problems in the summer of 1908, the club management sold him to the Blackburn Rovers . There he played another 120 times, reached another FA Cup semi-finals in the 1910/11 season and even won the English championship in the 1911/12 season. Just a year later, however, the Rovers released him and Ashcroft went looking for a new club. As this turned out to be difficult, he even placed an ad in The Athletic News that read:

J Ashcroft, goalkeeper, Blackburn Rovers, open for engagement; free transfer - Willaston Road, Walton, Liverpool.

He finally signed a contract with Tranmere Rovers , where he completed another season until the First World War completely ended official game operations. According to the current state of research, it is assumed that this was synonymous with the end of his career as a football player.

He died in 1943 at the age of 64.

literature

Jeff Harris, Tony Hogg (ed.): Arsenal Who's Who . Independent UK Sports, 1995, ISBN 1-899429-03-4 .