[1] Although offered professional terms by various rugby league clubs, Ashton moved to Fylde – where his teammates included Roger Uttley and Bill Beaumont – and then to Orrell from 1973 to be closer to his Leigh home.
[citation needed] Ashton was in the England squad which toured Australia in 1975, playing in one game, but was never capped – the closest he came was as an unused replacement on 15 March 1975 against Scotland.
[2] Ashton started at Leigh college 1980–81 and turned the side into a formidable team that rucked the ball at speed due to a lack of size in the pack.
He had been awarded a six-year contract by the IRFU but resigned 12 months later after a series of disappointing results,[5] and against a background where arguments or disagreements with the team manager, Pat Whelan, were frequently aired in public.
England's 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign started badly: the team only narrowly beat the amateurs of the United States, and went on to lose 36–0 to South Africa.
However, having finished their group as runners up, they recorded a shock victory over Australia, won a very tight semi-final against France 14–9, and lost a closely fought final to South Africa 15–6.
He said he is prepared to contribute as much time as he can spare to assisting Head Coach Mark Nelson in the development of Fylde's senior squad.
Ashton's philosophy is that the backs comprise three creative forces (the scrum-half, the fly-half and the inside-centre) and four penetrative finishers (the outside- centre, the two wings and the full-back).