322: Dean Ashton, West Ham United, Topps Match Attax Trading Card Game, 2009/10

Mat Jolin-Beech takes on a post this week that has been three years in the making. Back in 2020 Rich started work on something but then “got writer’s block after a fleeting thought of ‘if he hadn’t got injured, he could’ve done well for England’”. Emlyn was unlikely to ever take up the mantle having spent a bit too long sharing an office with a man whose prized possession was the signed picture of the striker which sat on his desk. My main recollection of today’s subject was as the up and coming star of a Crewe Alexandra side that found themselves 3-0 down after half an hour at Selhurst Park. He scored from close range at the Holmesdale Road end and put his hand to his ear to silence the crowd. Palace promptly went up the other end, scored again, and ran out 4-1 winners. Over to Mat with something far more coherent. Maybe.

Hobbling down the stairs this morning, and realising its been a few weeks since my last piece to grace these hallowed pages, one person sprang to mind: Dean Ashton. Now, I’ll get the obvious bits out the way. Early retirement due to injuries, only one England cap when there should have been many more, and a chance to have been a key striker alongside Wayne Rooney keeping one Andy Carroll out of the starting XI.

Done? Well not quite. So let’s rewind – to this morning. Due to being lazy and not keeping up with exercises my physio, many years ago, told me to do, Achilles tendinopathy and plantar fasciitis have once again begun to blight my morning routine. Those ankle dips cannot work their magic soon enough. For those not in the know, Achilles tendinopathy essentially makes your Achilles tendons sore and stiff, at least until they start moving. Plantar fasciitis feels like you’re treading on Lego bricks, again until the tendons have warmed up and decided they will allow you to move. The ankle dips to help ease the tendinopathy issues makes my ankles literally crack and creak – like someone snapping apart takeaway chopsticks in the next room. It was that creaking that brough Ashton to mind.

In an interview, post-retirement, I remember him saying he could hear his ankles cracking and creaking when he was running, and that he wasn’t able to jump in his post-injury games, especially at West Ham United. The fact he even returned to professional football after being wiped out and crunched – literally – by one Shaun Wright-Phillips on his first England call up, is still something of a miracle. But, it would prove too much and on the advice of doctors to either quit or risk not being able to walk in later life, he hung up his boots in 2009 aged only 26. As an aside, he apparently never received an apology from Wright-Phillips. The fact he did return, and scored at the highest level, marks a testament to him a striker, and adds to the questions of what could have been. 

Another striker who had a similar career or two halves, a pre- and post-injury career, and again highlights the qualities of the man, albeit not like Dean Ashton at all, is one Ronaldo. No, not that one, THE Ronaldo. R9. (Weirdly, as I was thinking of writing this, Facebook popped up an infographic on R9. Stats of his pre-injury career and post-injury career of who has been described as “the first PlayStation footballer”.) Someone who, had his knee not exploded – literally if some reports are to be believed, could have stats that would shame Lionel Messi, the other Ronaldo, and probably even what Erling Haaland will retire with.

From his club debut in 1993 until his injury in 1999 he played 154 times for Cruzeiro, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, and Inter Milan scoring 130 times. Then, having missed the best part of three years, he returned, playing a further 188 games for Inter, Real Madrid, AC Milan and finally Corinthians. During this period of 2002 until 2011, he netted another 117 league goals, These all exclude European, cup and international appearances and goals which all boost that tally a lot more. The fact he was able to do that, and is regarded as one of the best strikers ever in the game can only hint at he elves that Dean Ashton could have got to had his ankles not been ruined.

To be clear, I’m, not saying Ashton was Ronaldo levels. I’m not a complete idiot. I’m just saying that the fact Ashton returned from an injury that should have immediately ended his career to play top-level football, and score, shows the talent he had. Just like Ronaldo’s post-injury stats show just how good he was. And all these do are raise that question again – what if?