5 minute read
Live Ribble Valley Issue 136 October 2022
LONGRIDGE & LONGEVITY
Sports enthusiast Michael Hodkinson talks to Lee Ashcroft, the manager of Longridge Town FC, whose sights are firmly set on promotion
Back in the day, the mantra for school leavers was either ‘get yourself a profession’ or ‘find yourself a trade’. It is still sound advice, but one occupation where such longevity is almost as rare as a Platinum Jubilee is football management. Unless your name is Ferguson or Wenger or more locally Dyche or Coleman, two-and-a-half years is par for the course. In simple terms, you just cannot put down your roots and look ahead to retirement.
There are exceptions of course and on the west side of the busy market town of Longridge, you will find the Recycling Lives Football Ground. There, the manager of Longridge Town for the last eight years is Lee Ashcroft, brought up locally in Goosnargh. He was an exciting attacking player in the nineties at Preston North End over two stints, then at West Brom and Grimsby Town before completing his Football League journey at Wigan Athletic.
Lee, recalling his time at Deepdale, says: “I loved playing for Les Chapman but as soon as John Beck arrived, I knew my time was limited at PNE.”
Disagreeing with Beck’s style, he counters: “I suppose I could flare up quickly and could be quite vocal. He wanted us to play football in a way that none of us could really understand. At the end of the season, I’d had enough and when West Brom came in, I was off like a shot.”
In the late 20th century, the population of Longridge had passed the 7,000 mark, but its two football teams, Longridge St Wilfrids and Longridge United were playing ‘parks’ football in the Preston and District League. In 1996 however, the clubs amalgamated. The newly formed Longridge Town finally gained promotion into the West Lancashire League, but further progress was slow until Lee Ashcroft arrived in the summer of 2014. Having cut his managerial teeth at Kendal Town and Northwich Victoria, he was appointed at Longridge where success quickly followed. Promotion to the North West Counties Division 1 stalled until ground work was carried out to meet the League’s criteria, but they moved to the tenth tier of English football in 2018.
Success was instantaneous, scoring 144 league goals as they gained promotion to the NWC Premier League. In the mix there for yet another promotion, Covid struck and the league was aborted. They had reached the fifth round of the FA Vase (last 16) and they won through four rounds of the FA Cup the following campaign. They were chosen to play at the same level as Clitheroe, but Lee explains why this didn’t happen: “There was a big shake up in the non-league world and we were offered a place in the Northern Premier League West, but we sensibly had to turn it down because we would have had to spend money we didn’t have to meet Tier 8 criteria.”
The ground is lovely, a pitch like a bowling green, a view to die for and spotlessly clean changing facilities, comfortably large enough to house the extra substitutes used in the modern game. And this club has ambition.
Secretary Lorraine Harrison, Commercial Manager Joanne Cummings and Lee Ashcroft himself all have a desire to find extra investment, make the necessary ground improvements, continue with their policy of blooding youngsters from the junior set-up to add to the existing senior semi-professionals and ultimately gain further promotion.
Longridge Town, a club run exclusively by volunteers, has the needs of the community at heart. Tragically, a recent ex-player, George Melling, lost his life to Motor Neurone Disease. He was in his late thirties and a trust has been set up in his name to raise funds to help combat this illness – one which the club backs to the hilt.
They are also involved with Recycling Lives, a national firm but based locally. It is a waste management and recycling company working hard to attain social sustainability, provide a cleaner and healthier environment and offer support to charities. They sponsor the ‘Ridge’ in return for the stadium name and both the company and the club continue to work together to help the local community.
As Lee says: “Successful teams at this level are the ones that pay most. Our priority is to search for further advertisers and sponsors and boost the current average attendance. Producing quality young players helps us when we sell them on and one of our recent players, George Thomason, now has a regular spot in the Bolton Wanderers League 1 side.”
We watch the progress of Lee and his Longridge Town boys this season with interest. •
