Samuel Seth Ashton is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for English non-League side Skelmersdale United

Skelmersdale United F.C.

Skelmersdale United F.C. are a football club from Skelmersdale, West Lancashire competing in the Northern Premier League Division One North. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Football Association.-The first 75 years:...

. He has previously played for Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers F.C.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

 and F.C. United of Manchester

F.C. United of Manchester

F.C. United of Manchester is an English semi-professional football club based in Bury, Greater Manchester that plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. It was formed in 2005 by Manchester United supporters opposed to American businessman Malcolm Glazer's controversial takeover of the...

.

Bolton Wanderers

Ashton began his professional football career at Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers F.C.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

 and, on 7 January 2006, was named as the substitute keeper for Bolton's FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 Third Round tie against Watford

Watford F.C.

Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

. However, he came on for the last few minutes of the match as a striker

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

, replacing Jared Borgetti

Jared Borgetti

Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría is a retired Mexican footballer. Borgetti is the all-time leading goal scorer for the Mexican national team, with 46 goals. A prolific goal scorer at both club and national level, Borgetti was renowned for his heading ability...

. Ashton also made 18 appearances for the Bolton Wanderers Reserves during his time at the Reebok.

Described by his boss as "the best and most staunch Bolton Wanderers fan in our camp", then Bolton manager Sam Allardyce

Sam Allardyce

Samuel "Sam" Allardyce , nicknamed "Big Sam", is an English football manager and former professional player. In June 2011 he was appointed as manager of West Ham United....

 explained: "He wears a massive tattoo with the club badge on it. He comes from the heart of Bolton and he loves the club so much and is so passionate. He just asked if he could get on for a couple of minutes. We were always ready to play him outfield as he has played at right-back and centre-back for the youth team. I thought it would be a perfect late Christmas present."

Towards the end of the 2005–06 season he was told that he was free to leave Bolton and spent considerable time on trial with non-League sides such as Cambridge United

Cambridge United F.C.

Cambridge United Football Club is a professional football club from Cambridge, England. They are currently playing the 2011-2012 season in the Conference National, the fifth tier of the English league system, where they have competed since 2005 following their relegation from the Football League...

 and Radcliffe Borough

Radcliffe Borough F.C.

Radcliffe Borough F.C. is an English football club based in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. The club was formed on 24 April 1949 and currently plays in the Northern Premier League Division One North...

.

FC United of Manchester

On 26 July 2006, he made his debut for FC United of Manchester in a friendly against Bury

Bury F.C.

Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...

. He has since made his competitive debut for FC United against St Helens Town

St Helens Town F.C.

St Helens Town A.F.C. are an English football club based in St Helens. The club are currently members of the Premier Division of the North West Counties League and play their home matches at Ashton Town's Edge Green Street.-History:...

, in the first game of the 2006–07 North West Counties Football League

North West Counties Football League

The North West Counties Football League is a football league in North west of England. As of 2011, the league covers Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Southern Cumbria, Northern Staffordshire, the High Peak area of Derbyshire, and the far west of West Yorkshire. In the past, the...

 Division One season, keeping a clean sheet with an impressive performance in a 2-0 victory for the away team, played at Knowsley Road

Knowsley Road

Knowsley Road was a stadium located in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home of St Helens RLFC from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted Liverpool FC Reserves...

. After 140 appearances for the club, he reached a landmark 50th clean sheet on 4 April 2009 against North Ferriby United. Sam had a brilliant moment against Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup Second Round. In the last minute he saved a penalty to earn FC United of Manchester a replay.

He scored his first career goal in a 4–0 win away to Retford United on 15 January 2011. The ball got caught up in the wind and lobbed the opposing goalkeeper.

He left the club in July 2011 in order to secure more first team football.

Skelmersdale United

Ashton joined Skelmerdale United after leaving FC United.

Sam now lives with his girlfriend and her 2 children in Farnworth, Bolton.

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