Brian Ashton (soccer)

Brian Ashton
Personal information
Full name Brian Ashton
Date of birth (1974-09-05) September 5, 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth Sudbury, Ontario
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Defensive Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992 London Lasers 3 (0)
1998–2004 Toronto Lynx 159 (13)
2002 → Mississauga Olympians (loan) 3 (0)
International career‡
1991 Canada U17 2 (0)
1992 Canada U20 5 (1)
1994 Canada U23 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of January 2, 2015
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of n/a

Brian Ashton (born September 5, 1974) is a Canadian former soccer player who played notably with the Toronto Lynx, and is currently the Ontario Soccer Association Region 6 Head Coach.

Professional career

Ashton attended St. Charles College, where he played soccer. Ashton was a key part of the 1990 and 1993 NOSSA title for St. Charles.[1][2]

Ashton began playing professional soccer with the London Lasers in 1992.[3] Although receiving a tryout offer from Premier League club Sheffield United in 1993, he never officially made the squad.[4]

He later played with the Toronto Lynx of the USL A-League in 1998 the second year of the franchise's inception.[5] He made his debut for the club on April 9, 1998, in an exhibition match against the Rochester Rhinos.[6] During his tenure with the Lynx he was awarded the Toronto Lynx Fan Favorite award a record five times including a Public Relations award.[7] He held the record for most club appearances for the Lynx, until he was surpassed by David Diplacido in 2006.[8] In the 2000 USL A-League season he assisted Toronto by reaching the post season for the second time in the franchise's history. In the playoffs Ashton scored a goal in the conference quarterfinals against the Long Island Rough Riders, which resulted in a 2–1 victory.[9] The Lynx playoff run came to an end in the Eastern Conference Final against the Rochester Rhinos in a 2–1 loss on aggregate.

Once the 2002 A-League season came to a conclusion he was loaned to the Mississauga Olympians of the Canadian Professional Soccer League.[10] He made his debut on September 11, 2002, in an Open Canada Cup match against the Toronto Croatia.[11] He helped the Olympians secure a playoff berth by finishing second in the Western Conference, but unfortunately were defeated by the North York Astros in a wild card match.[12] On February 12, 2004, Ashton announced his retirement from professional soccer after he was offered a regional coach of youth development position with the Ontario Soccer Association.[13]

International career

Ashton made his national team debut on March 25, 1991, with the Canada men's national under-17 soccer team at the 1991 CONCACAF U-17 Tournament. He later featured with the Canada men's national under-20 soccer team in the 1992 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament. He also played with the Canada men's national under-23 soccer team at the 1994 Jeux de la Francophonie.[14]

References

  1. ^ Hutchison, Jim (May 28, 1990). "St. Charles wins NOSSA". North Bay Nugget. p. 16. Retrieved November 23, 2023. Open access icon
  2. ^ Macfarlane, Bruce (May 31, 1993). "St. Charles gains revenge in NOSSA soccer finals". North Bay Nugget. p. 11. Retrieved November 23, 2023. Open access icon
  3. ^ "Brian Ashton soccer statistics on StatsCrew.com".
  4. ^ Pascal, Randy (September 12, 2023). "Laurentian soccer celebrates and Ashton heads overseas - in Sept of 1993". Sudbury Sports. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  5. ^ "The Team". August 19, 2000. Archived from the original on August 19, 2000. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  6. ^ Glover, Robin (April 9, 1998). "A-League pre season game of Thursday April 9, 1998". Rocket Robin`s Home Page.
  7. ^ Nutt, Dave (April 10, 2003). "LYNX SIGN FORMER ALL-STAR". Rocket Robin`s Home Page. TORONTO LYNX MEDIA RELEASE.
  8. ^ "Brian Ashton | SoccerStats.us". soccerstats.us. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  9. ^ Winnipeg Fury (September 9, 2000). "CP article: Lynx Advance to Semi's". Rocket Robin`s Home Page.
  10. ^ RUMLESKI, Kathy. "CPSL playoff picture still unclear". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. London Free Press. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  11. ^ Glover, Robin (September 11, 2002). "Result of the Wednesday September 11th, 2002 CPSL game between Toronto Croatia and Mississauga Olympians played at Memorial Park in Streetsville at 8:00pm. This was the first game of the two leg quarterfinal of the League Cup". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  12. ^ Glover, Robin (October 18, 2002). "Result of the Friday October 18th, 2002 CPSL Wild Card game to determine semi-finalists for the Rogers Cup between North York Astros and Mississauga Olympians". Rocket Robin's Home Page.
  13. ^ Lynch, Rob (February 12, 2004). "There's Only One Number 8". USLFans.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015.
  14. ^ "Canada Soccer". www.canadasoccer.com. Retrieved April 14, 2017.