Ashley Young
Born July 1985 in Stevanage, Ashley Young is an exciting attacking midfielder/forward who can play on both the left and right hand side of the field. Young started off at Watford, where he was initially turned away after an unsuccessful spell. He came back more determined, and his persistance paid off as Raw Lewington, the then Watford manager handed him his debut at 18 years of age.
Young came to prominence in the 2004-05 season, as Watford battled against relegation. The player did not score any goals, but did get a number of assists which earned him the clubs young player of the season award. Under the new Watford Manager Adian Boothroyd, Young was given a new lease of life and played as a striker. He scored 15 times in 41 appearances, as Watford got to the playoffs defeating Leeds Utd 3-0 to get into the Premier League.
In January 2007, five clubs had enquired about the services of Ashley Young, offering £5m with another club believed to have offered £7m. Eventually, West Ham offered £10m for the players services, but the player opted not to join. On 18th Januray 2007, Watford accepted a bid from Aston Villa of £8m(£9.75m with add ons) and the player joined the club on the 23rd January 2007.
Despite scoring on his Villa debut against Newcastle, Young struggled for early form, however his quality and attacking prowess started to show during the 2007/08 season, where Young was called up to the full England squad, and scored a number of important goals including a great free kick against Blackburn Rovers at Villa Park.
| Season | Games Played | Goals Scored | Goals to Game Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06/07 | 13 | 2 | 15.38% |
| 07/08 | 37 | 8 | 21.62% |