Ashley Fletcher

Ashley Fletcher
Fletcher warming-up for West Ham United
Personal information
Full name Ashley Michael Fletcher[1]
Date of birth (1995-10-02) 2 October 1995[2]
Place of birth Keighley, England
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Middlesbrough
Number 18
Youth career
2005–2009 Bolton Wanderers
2009–2014 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Manchester United 0 (0)
2016 → Barnsley (loan) 21 (5)
2016–2017 West Ham United 16 (0)
2017– Middlesbrough 20 (1)
2018 → Sunderland (loan) 16 (2)
National team‡
2015–2016 England U20 3 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 07:53, 26 September 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:43, 8 October 2017 (UTC)

Ashley Michael Fletcher (born 2 October 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Middlesbrough, and the England under-20 team.

Early and personal life

Born in Keighley, West Yorkshire,[3] Fletcher attended Canon Slade School, where he obtained 12 GCSEs all with grades of either A or B.[4] He played football, cricket, basketball, and athletics for the school.[4]

Club career

Manchester United

After starting his career at Bolton Wanderers, joining the club at the age of nine, Fletcher moved to Manchester United at the age of 13.[4] He signed his first professional contract with Manchester United in May 2014.[4]

Barnsley (loan)

With first-team action at Manchester United hard to come by, Fletcher signed for Barnsley on loan in January 2016.[5] He scored on his professional debut on 9 January 2016, in a 1–1 draw with Fleetwood Town in the Football League Trophy Northern Area Final first leg,[6] and scored his first league goal on 20 February 2016.[7]

On 3 April 2016 he scored a goal in the 2016 Football League Trophy Final as Barnsley won the competition.[8] On 29 May 2016, he scored the opening goal in Barnsley's 3–1 victory in the 2016 Football League One play-off Final against Millwall, helping Barnsley return to the Championship.[9] In total Fletcher scored nine goals in 27 games for Barnsley during his spell at the club.[6]

After impressing while on loan at Barnsley, Fletcher was offered a new contract at Manchester United amid interest from Championship side Leeds United.[10] On 23 June 2016, it was reported that he had turned down the contract offer to stay at Manchester United but would continue to train at the club.[11]

West Ham United

In July 2016, Fletcher signed a four-year deal with West Ham United.[12]

He made his unofficial debut for West Ham United's Development squad on 15 July 2016 in a 2–0 pre-season friendly defeat away to Chelmsford City.[13]

His West Ham debut came on 18 August in the UEFA Europa League when he was introduced as a last minute substitute for Andy Carroll in a 3–0 win over NK Domžale.[14] His Premier League debut came again from the substitutes bench on 21 August when he replaced Håvard Nordtveit after 80 minutes, in a 1–0 win over Bournemouth.[14]

On 30 November 2016, Fletcher scored his first goal for West Ham, in a 4–1 defeat to Manchester United, in the EFL Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford.[14][15]

Middlesbrough

On 28 July 2017, Fletcher signed for Middlesbrough for a fee of £6.5 million, signing a four-year contract.[16][17] He made his debut for Boro on 5 August 2017 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 1–0 defeat.[18] His first goal for the club came as the last of three in a 3–0 win against Scunthorpe United on 22 August 2017 in the EFL Cup.[19]

On 31 January 2018, Fletcher made a deadline day switch to Sunderland, signing on loan for the remainder of the season.[20] He scored his first goal for Sunderland in a 4-1 win at Derby County on 30 March 2018.[21]

International career

In November 2015, Fletcher made his debut for the England under-20 side, scoring only 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute. In March 2016, he was called up to face the Canada under-20s, playing up front with his then Manchester United teammate Marcus Rashford, and scored in a 4–1 win.[22]

Career statistics

As of match played 25 September 2018
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United 2015–16[6] Premier League 00—000000
Barnsley (loan) 2015–16[6] League One 215——6[lower-alpha 1]4279
West Ham United 2016–17[14] Premier League 16010112[lower-alpha 2]0201
Middlesbrough 2017–18[21] Championship 1610031—192
2018–19[23] Championship 4000330073
Total 1201006400265
Sunderland (loan) 2017–18[21] Championship 1620000—162
Career total 7381075848917
  1. ↑ Three appearances and two goals in Football League Trophy, three appearances and two goals in League One play-offs
  2. ↑ Appearances in Europa League

Honours

Barnsley

References

  1. ↑ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Ashley Fletcher". 11v11. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "Profile". Manchester United F.C. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Craig Nelson (24 May 2014). "Former Canon Slade pupil Ashley Fletcher wins pro contract at Manchester United". Bolton News. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "Manchester United striker Ashley Fletcher joins Barnsley on loan". BBC Sport. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Games played by Ashley Fletcher in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  7. ↑ Simon Bajkowski (23 February 2016). "Manchester United youngster Ashley Fletcher delighted with first league goal". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 Simon Bajkowski (3 April 2016). "Manchester United's Ashley Fletcher scores in Wembley win". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  9. 1 2 Rob Stevens (29 May 2016). "Barnsley 3-1 Millwall". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Phil Hay (6 June 2016). "Leeds United: Whites keen on Manchester United forward Ashley Fletcher". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  11. ↑ Phil Hay (24 June 2016). "Leeds United's hopes of signing Fletcher rise as striker turns down Old Trafford deal". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  12. ↑ Rob Stevens (12 July 2016). "Ashley Fletcher: England Under-20 striker joins West Ham from Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  13. ↑ "FT- Chelmsford City 2-0 Dev Squad". whufc.com. West Ham United F.C. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Games played by Ashley Fletcher in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  15. ↑ "Fletcher ready for more goals". West Ham United F.C. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  16. ↑ "Ashley Fletcher Signs For Boro". mfc.co.uk. Middlesbrough FC. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  17. ↑ "Ashley Fletcher: Middlesbrough sign West Ham United striker for £6.5m". 28 July 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  18. ↑ "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "Middlesbrough 3–0 Scunthorpe United". BBC Sport. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  20. ↑ "Ovie Ejaria, Ashley Fletcher and Lee Camp join Sunderland". BBC Sport. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  21. 1 2 3 "Games played by Ashley Fletcher in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  22. ↑ Simon Bajkowski (31 March 2016). "Manchester United starlet Ashley Fletcher out to join Marcus Rashford via Wembley spotlight". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  23. ↑ "Games played by Ashley Fletcher in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
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