Dec 4

Dec 4 Nathan Ashton: The Gambling ex-Premier League Winger Jailed For Armed Robbery

Crippy Cooke

Stories

Jailed Football Star: The Story of Nathan Ashton

Few football fans will know the name of Nathan Ashton, as his Premier League career was short-lived in the early 2000s.

He was a player with the world at his feet who ended up in jail over multiple armed robberies.

But what exactly happened? The Sporting Blog tells the full story!

Nathan Ashton footballer — Jailed footballer Nathan Ashton. Credits: The Holmesdale Online

Nathan Ashton was a promising winger who played for Charlton Athletic and Fulham in his early years while representing England at the youth level, but he struggled for playing time in the top flight and quickly fell out of the Football League.

The story goes that the 36-year-old developed a gambling habit while in the Premier League and racked up insurmountable debt.

Ashton turned to a life of crime to pay it back - and he would face the consequences for it.

This was a player that seemingly had his whole career ahead of him, so how did it all go wrong?

Nathan Ashton: Hot Prospect That Tailed Off

Ashton was born in Beckton, London on January 30, 1987 - eight miles away from Charlton Athletic’s stadium, The Valley.

He graduated from the Addicks’ academy in 2004/05 but, like Richard Rufus before him, he was sidelined with injury.

By this time though, Ashton had already played for England U16s (2002 - 2003), U17s (2004), U18s (2004) and U19s (2005), so his stock was high despite the setback.

A season later, Ashton finally got his call-up at club level. He was an unused substitute for one game, then came off the bench to make his first-team debut in the League Cup against Carlisle United on September 19, 2006.

It was the only game he’d end up playing for Charlton, but he still had a second chance with Fulham.

Ashton had a loan spell at Millwall in 2007 before leaving the Addicks, but he failed to make a league appearance.

He joined Fulham that same year and made his debut three months later, but his time at Craven Cottage was also short-lived. He would feature in just one league game before being loaned out and eventually sold.

Ashton was sent on loan to Crystal Palace, who were in the Championship at the time. The left-winger only managed one league appearance, however, so he didn’t make the most of his opportunity.

Ashton was unsurprisingly sold by Fulham to Wycombe Wanderers in 2008 and would go on to make 11 league appearances as they won promotion to League Two.

He wasn’t a regular, however, and grew frustrated with the lack of playing time, so Ashton surprisingly left with one year remaining on his deal.

Club-Hobbing Across the Country

After leaving the Wycombe Wanderers, Nathan Ashton wound up at AFC Wimbledon (October 2009) who had just been promoted to the Conference Premier, now known as the National League, so he took a big gamble for the sake of more opportunity.

It didn’t pay off either, as Ashton spent just two weeks with The Dons before exiting without an appearance.

It had been four years since he’d last played for England at youth level and Ashton only had 14 career league appearances under his belt after leaving Wimbledon, so there weren’t many clubs queuing up for his signature.

Ashton found himself accused of rape of a child under 13 before being later acquitted in 2010, which had an adverse effect on his career, reputation and mental health.

During the trial, Ashton admitted speaking to underage girls in his bedroom - another example of his inappropriate behaviour and poor decision-making.

Cray Wanderers of the Isthmian League Premier Division took a shot on Ashton in December 2010, and the decision looked a good one, with Ashton scoring on his debut. However, he left for Dover Athletic (2011) of the Conference South without playing another game.

Ashton played nine times for Dover, but he couldn’t settle with The Whites either and joined division rival Thurrock.

Ashton would feature 17 times for the Essex outfit between 2011 and 2013 before switching to Conference South side Billericay Town.

He lasted only months before joining Isthmian League outfit Tilbury that same year but had a much better time with two goals and seven assists from 17 games. His time with The Dockers would end in 2014, however, when Ashton joined eighth-tier side Marlow in a player/coach role.

Ashton made 29 appearances over two seasons with the Southern League Division One South side, scoring three goals with three assists. While a far cry from the heady days of Premier League football, Ashton finally appeared settled at a club.

However, his time at Marlow would come to an end in 2016 when his crimes caught up with him…

Life of Crime After Professional Football

During his short stint in the Premier League, Ashton developed a gambling addiction. He could initially afford the large-scale losses while earning Premier League money but racked up debt after dropping down the divisions.

The rape allegation saw Ashton’s mental health spiral too, even after he was acquitted, as clubs didn’t want to gamble on him while awaiting the trial.

The 36-year-old had a three-month suspended sentence for stalking his ex-girlfriend and found himself in £100k worth of gambling debt at the time, so he wasn’t in his right mind.

To pay off his debt, Ashton worked with friend Ohmar Pike, a former Scottish Premiership player, to rob bookmakers for cash.

The pair targeted betting shops in London and the South-East. Pike had debts of his own to pay after his old club Gretna Green went into administration, so the duo sought to steal as much money as possible.

Ashton carried out two robberies alone in February 2014 but carried out eight raids with Pike between May and October 2015, sometimes using a fake gun to threaten staff members.

The ex-Charlton man was robbing bookies at the same time as he was working as a player/coach at Marlow.

Ashton and Pike stole approximately £14,500 from Paddy Power, William Hill and Coral, choosing times of the day they knew cash was available.

They would enter the bookmaker and wedge the door open with a chair to prevent themselves from being locked inside. Staff were told they would be shot if they did not hand over money.

Ashton’s Jail Sentence

In 2016, Ashton was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of robbery, two counts of possession of an imitation firearm, one count of conspiracy to rob and one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm or imitation firearm.

Pike was sentenced to 11 years. Ashton won’t be eligible for parole until January 2024.

Ashton had potential at a young age but never convinced a manager that he deserved more opportunities. And when his career started spiralling, he made bad off-field decisions with the wrong people - eventually landing himself in jail.