Ashley Westwood (footballer, born 1990)

Ashley Westwood
Westwood in 2012
Personal information
Full name Ashley Roy Westwood[1]
Date of birth (1990-04-01) 1 April 1990[2]
Place of birth Nantwich, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Burnley
Number 18
Youth career
000–2008 Crewe Alexandra
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2012 Crewe Alexandra 128 (14)
2008 → Nantwich Town (loan)
2012–2017 Aston Villa 147 (5)
2017– Burnley 36 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:11, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

Ashley Roy Westwood (born 1 April 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Burnley.

Westwood's first club was League 1 club Crewe Alexandra but spent some time on loan to his hometown club Nantwich Town from the Northern Premier League Premier Division. After five seasons and over 125 appearances, Westwood joined Premier League club Aston Villa in Birmingham where he scored his first Premier League goal in his second season with them. Six months after Villa dropped out of the Premier League, Westwood joined Burnley, returning to the Premier League in the process.

Career

Crewe Alexandra

Westwood in 2010

Born in Nantwich, Cheshire,[2] Westwood started his career in the academy at Crewe Alexandra. He signed his first professional contract in April 2008, along with Luke Danville, Chris Clements, Josh Thompson, AJ Leitch-Smith and Luke Murphy.[3] He joined hometown club Nantwich Town, playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, on loan in 2008.[4]

The following season saw Westwood break into first team appearing 38 times for the club along with six goals – the first coming in a 3–2 away win at Chesterfield. The season, however, did see Westwood receive his first career red card in the 0–1 home defeat to Notts County for squaring up to Luke Rodgers after the pair tussled for the ball, the County striker was sent off for the incident as well.[5] The young midfielder impressed the Crewe management over the season and was rewarded with a new two-year contract in December and his performances over the season were rewarded with him named the club's player of the season.[6]

A further 46 appearances followed in the 2010–11 season along with six goals, including two in the 3–3 home draw to Torquay United. Following a string of impressive performances, Westwood signed a new deal intended to keep him at the club until 2014 midway through the campaign.[7]

With the release of David Artell in the summer of 2012, Westwood was handed the club captaincy of Crewe by manager Steve Davis.[8] The young midfielder made three league appearances before he was linked with a move to the Premier League with Swansea. "It's the first time he'll have had this sort of speculation in his career", Crewe manager Steve Davis commented before adding: "he's got to be professional in how he deals with it".[9]

Aston Villa

Despite the speculation of a transfer to Swansea City, talks between the two clubs broke down as the South Wales club was unable to match the asking price set by the Railwaymen.[10] With talks of the deal reaching a stumbling block, Aston Villa were quick to capitalise and signed the midfielder on the final day of the summer 2012 transfer window. Westwood signed on a four-year deal with the Birmingham based club for a fee believed to be around £2 million.[11]

He made his debut on 15 September 2012, coming on as a second-half substitute for Stephen Ireland during a 2–0 win at home to Swansea City.[12] On 3 November, Westwood made his first league start for Villa in a 1–0 win away at Sunderland. The young midfielder was highly praised for his role in the win, alongside Barry Bannan.[13] On 15 July 2013, Westwood signed a new four-year contract keeping him at the club until summer 2017.[14] He scored his first goal for the club against local rivals West Bromwich Albion in a 2–2 draw at The Hawthorns.[15] On 29 March 2014, he scored in a 4–1 defeat away to Manchester United at Old Trafford.[16] On 3 May 2014, Westwood scored after 54 seconds against Hull City in a 3–1 home victory that helped ensure Villa avoided relegation.[17]

On 12 August 2015 Westwood signed a new five-year contract.[18]

Burnley

On 31 January 2017, Westwood signed for Premier League club Burnley on a three-and-a-half-year contract, with the option of a further year.[19]

Playing style

Westwood operates primarily as a deep-lying playmaker although he is capable of playing in a role higher up the midfield as well as right back. After his transfer to Aston Villa, Westwood compared himself to Michael Carrick adding that he is "someone who stays out of the limelight and keeps it simple, retaining the ball and laying it off to team-mates".[20]

Career statistics

Westwood playing for Aston Villa in 2013
As of match played 6 October 2018
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Crewe Alexandra 2008–09[21] League One 2000000020
2009–10[22] League Two 366101000386
2010–11[23] League Two 46511202[lower-alpha 1]0516
2011–12[24] League Two 41310005[lower-alpha 2]0473
2012–13[25] League One 30—20—50
Total 1281431507014315
Aston Villa 2012–13[25] Premier League 30010——310
2013–14[26] Premier League 3531010—373
2014–15[27] Premier League 2706010—340
2015–16[28] Premier League 3223020—372
2016–17[29] Championship 2300000—230
Total 147511040—1625
Burnley 2016–17[29] Premier League 9010——100
2017–18[30] Premier League 1901020—220
2018–19[31] Premier League 8000105[lower-alpha 3]0140
Total 360203050460
Career total 3111916112012035120
  1. ↑ Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. ↑ Two appearances in Football League Trophy, three in League Two play-offs
  3. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

References

  1. ↑ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 433. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  3. ↑ "Crewe offer deals to youngsters". BBC Sport. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
  4. ↑ "Non-league football: Shotton is going nowhere, says Davis". The Sentinel. 13 December 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "Crewe Alexandra 0–1 Notts County". Crewe Alexandra F.C. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Westwood named Crewe Alexandra player of the season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "New Crewe Alexandra deal for Ashley Westwood". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Ashley Westwood handed Crewe Alexandra captaincy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "Crewe boss Steve Davis reveals Ashley Westwood enquiries". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  10. ↑ Morse, Peter (29 August 2012). "Crewe Alex: Railwaymen braced for Swansea bid for Westwood". Crewe Chronicle. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Westwood signs for Villa on four-year deal". Aston Villa F.C. 31 August 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Aston Villa 2–0 Swansea" BBC Sport. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  13. ↑ "Sunderland 0–1 Aston Villa". Aston Villa F.C. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  14. ↑ "Aston Villa reward midfielder Ashley Westwood with new four-year contract". Sky Sports News. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "West Bromwich Albion 2–2 Aston Villa" BBC Sport. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "Manchester United 4–1 Aston Villa" BBC Sport. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  17. ↑ "Ashley Westwood seemed impatient to help Aston Villa out".
  18. ↑ "Westwood signs new contract". Aston Villa F.C. Archived from the original on 15 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "Ashley Westwood: Burnley sign Aston Villa midfielder". BBC Sport. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  20. ↑ "Westwood makes Villa move". Sky Sports. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  21. ↑ "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  22. ↑ "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  23. ↑ "A. Westwood". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  24. ↑ "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  25. 1 2 "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  26. ↑ "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  27. ↑ "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  28. ↑ "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  29. 1 2 "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  30. ↑ "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  31. ↑ "Games played by Ashley Westwood in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
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