He was recruited from Lilydale in the Eastern Districts Football League (EDFL).
When he finished his VFL career Ashley returned to grass roots football including to Lilydale as its captain and coach.
He coached Lilydale to a premiership in 1996 in the EDFL [1] and again in 1998 this time in the Eastern Football League (EFL) both in the second division of the competition.
[2] He also has been "Chairman of Selectors" at the club when working with coach Brett Fisher in 2006 and 2007 in the first division of the EFL.
In 2016, Matthews coached the East Ringwood U13A team to the EFL U13 premiership.