Billy Ashcroft

{{short description|English footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Billy Ashcroft | image = | caption = | fullname = William Ashcroft | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|10|1|df=y}} | birth_place = Liverpool, England | death_date = | height = | position = Defender/Forward | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = | years1 = 1970–1977 | years2 = 1977–1982 | years3 = 1982–1985 | years4 = 1985–1986 | clubs1 = Wrexham | clubs2 = Middlesbrough | clubs3 = FC Twente | clubs4 = Tranmere Rovers | caps1 = 219 | caps2 = 139 | caps3 = 77 | caps4 = 23 | goals1 = 72 | goals2 = 21 | goals3 = 29 | goals4 = 2 | totalcaps = 458 | totalgoals = 124 }} '''Billy Ashcroft''' (born 1 October 1952) is an English retired footballer who played both as a central defender and as a forward.

The red-haired Ashcroft made his League debut for Middlesbrough on 3 September 1977 in a 2–1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, after having previously served Wrexham for seven years, playing 219 matches and scoring 72 goals. Ashcroft was transferred to FC Twente in the Netherlands in 1982,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kentudezenog.nl/rik-elfrink/|title=Billy Ashcroft, van Engeland naar Enschede en terug|website=Kent u deze nog?|language=nl|first=Rik|last=Elfrink|date=15 December 2015|access-date=11 April 2026}}</ref> where he stayed for three years, making 77 league appearances and scoring 29 goals. He was the club top-scorer in the 1983–84 season. In 1985, he moved to Tranmere Rovers, where he scored twice in 23 league appearances.

After retiring he worked as a driving instructor in Southport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vi.nl/pro/billy-ashcroft-liet-fc-twente-lachen-juichen-en-drinken-|title=Billy Ashcroft liet FC Twente lachen, juichen en drinken|website=Voetbal International|language=nl|first=Geert-Jan|last=Jakobs|date=23 July 2023|access-date=11 April 2026}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.ererat.nl/asp/ererat_spelerpaspoort.asp?spelerid=1125&AndereDivs=1 Billy Ashcroft] at Ererat {{in lang|nl}} * [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=38100 Billy Ashcroft career stats] at [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/ Sporting-Heroes.net]

<br> {{1976–77 Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashcroft, Billy}} Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Liverpool Category:Men's association football central defenders Category:Men's association football forwards Category:English men's footballers Category:Wrexham A.F.C. players Category:Middlesbrough F.C. players Category:FC Twente players Category:Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:Eredivisie players Category:Eerste Divisie players Category:English expatriate men's footballers Category:Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Category:English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Category:20th-century English sportsmen