Ashley Westwood (footballer, born 1990)

Ashley Westwood

Westwood in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Ashley Roy Westwood[1]
Date of birth	1 April 1990[1]
Place of birth	Nantwich, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Aston Villa
Number	15
Youth career
000–2008	Crewe Alexandra
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2008–2012	Crewe Alexandra	123	(14)
2008	→ Nantwich Town (loan)	5	(0)
2012–	Aston Villa	121	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:00, 23 April 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals)

Ashley Roy Westwood (born 1 April 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays for Aston Villa as a midfielder.

Career

Crewe Alexandra

Born in Nantwich, Cheshire,^[1] Westwood started his career in the academy at Crewe Alexandra. He signed his first professional contract in April 2008, along with Luke Danville, Chris Clements, Josh Thompson, AJ Leitch-Smith and Luke Murphy.^[2] He joined hometown club Nantwich Town, playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, on loan in 2008.^[3]

The following season saw Westwood break into first team appearing 38 times for the club along with six goals – the first coming in a 3–2 away win at Chesterfield. The season, however, did see Westwood receive his first career red card in the 0–1 home defeat to Notts County for squaring up to Luke Rodgers after the pair tussled for the ball, the County striker was sent off for the incident as well.^[4] The young midfielder impressed the Crewe management over the season and was rewarded with a new two-year contract in December and his performances over the season were rewarded with him named the club's player of the season.^[5]

A further 46 appearances followed in the 2010–11 season along with six goals, including two in the 3–3 home draw to Torquay United. Following a string of impressive performances, Westwood signed a new deal intended to keep him at the club until 2014 mid-way through the campaign.^[6]

With the release of David Artell in the summer of 2012, Westwood was handed the club captaincy of Crewe by manager Steve Davis.^[7] The young midfielder made three league appearances before he was linked with a move to the Premier League with Swansea. "It's the first time he'll have had this sort of speculation in his career," Crewe manager Steve Davis commented before adding: "he's got to be professional in how he deals with it".^[8]

Aston Villa

"Clubs had monitored Ash for a long period of time. Villa came in, we thought Villa was a bit of a surprise. But then we found out that they had a thirty game dossier on him so they've done their homework; they knew what they were getting. But nobody else did, so fair play to them; they came in late with all their money and what a fantastic opportunity for him."

Crewe manager Steve Davis on Westwood's transfer to Villa.^[9]

Despite the speculation of a transfer to Swansea City talks between the two clubs broke down as the South Wales club was unable to match the asking price set by the Railwaymen.^[10] With talks of the deal reaching a stumbling block, Aston Villa were quick to capitalise and signed the midfielder on the final day of the summer 2012 transfer window. Westwood signed on a four-year deal with the Birmingham based club for a fee believed to be around £2 million.^[11]

He made his debut on 15 September 2012, coming on as a second-half substitute for Stephen Ireland during a 2–0 win at home to Swansea City.^[12] On 3 November, Westwood made his first league start for Villa in a 1–0 win away at Sunderland. The young midfielder was highly praised for his role in the win, alongside Barry Bannan.^[13] On 15 July 2013 Westwood signed a new four-year contract keeping him at the club until summer 2017.^[14] He scored his first goal for the club against local rivals West Bromwich Albion in a 2–2 draw at The Hawthorns.^[15] On 29 March 2014, he scored in a 4–1 defeat away to Manchester United at Old Trafford.^[16] On 3 May 2014, Westwood scored after one minute against Hull City in a 3–1 home victory that helped ensure Villa avoided relegation.^[17]

On 12 August 2015 Westwood signed a new five-year contract.^[18]

Playing style

Westwood operates primarily as a deep-lying playmaker although he is capable playing in a role higher up the midfield as well as right back. After his transfer to Aston Villa, Westwood compared himself to Michael Carrick adding that he is "someone who stays out of the limelight and keeps it simple, retaining the ball and laying it off to team-mates".^[19]

Career statistics

As of match played 23 April 2016^[20]

Westwood in 2012

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2008–09	Crewe Alexandra	League One	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2009–10		League Two	36	6	1	0	1	0	0	0	38	6
2010–11			41	5	1	1	2	0	2	0	46	6
2011–12			41	3	1	0	0	0	5	0	47	3
2012–13		League One	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	5	0
2012–13	Aston Villa	Premier League	30	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	31	0
2013–14			35	3	1	0	1	0	0	0	37	3
2014–15			27	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	32	0
2015–16			29	2	3	0	2	0	0	0	34	2
Career total			244	19	12	1	9	0	7	0	272	20

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 433. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
2. "Crewe offer deals to youngsters". BBC Sport. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
3. "Non-league football: Shotton is going nowhere, says Davis". The Sentinel. 13 December 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
4. "Crewe Alexandra 0–1 Notts County". Crewe Alexandra F.C. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
5. "Westwood named Crewe Alexandra player of the season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
6. "New Crewe Alexandra deal for Ashley Westwood". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
7. "Ashley Westwood handed Crewe Alexandra captaincy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
8. "Crewe boss Steve Davis reveals Ashley Westwood enquiries". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
9. Crewe Alex Player > September Feature Show (Adobe Flash). Crewe Alexandra F.C. 9:00 minutes in. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
10. Morse, Peter (29 August 2012). "Crewe Alex: Railwaymen braced for Swansea bid for Westwood". Crewe Chronicle. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
11. "Westwood signs for Villa on four-year deal". Aston Villa F.C. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
12. "Aston Villa 2–0 Swansea" BBC Sport. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
13. "Sunderland 0-1 Aston Villa". Aston Villa F.C. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
14. "Aston Villa reward midfielder Ashley Westwood with new four-year contract". Sky Sports News. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
15. "West Bromwich Albion 2–2 Aston Villa" BBC Sport. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
16. "Manchester United 4–1 Aston Villa" BBC Sport. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
17. http://7500toholte.sbnation.com/2014/5/3/5677886/aston-villa-ashely-westwood-highlight-goal-gif-video
18. "Westwood signs new contract". AVFC Official site. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
19. "Westwood makes Villa move". Sky Sports. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
20. "Ashley Westwood". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

External links

• Ashley Westwood career statistics at Soccerbase