Ashby is a driving force in U's academy

Tony Ashby swapped a career within car manufacturing for one based around the production of promising young footballers.

The two vocations may not normally go hand in hand - but Ashby is fuelling the U’s quest for youth development.

And given the club’s current philosophy, his is one of the most important roles at the football club.

As joint head of the U’s academy with Sean Thacker, the development of their young players is in his hands.

It is a highly significant role, made more vital by the emphasis the club has placed on nurturing their own home-grown stars.

“Within our philosophy, we believe in the long-term development of players and invest in them,” said Ashby, who has been an academy coach for 17 years.

“This is our fourth or fifth year as an academy and where we’ve come from - and what we’ve put in - has been a massive achievement.”

Ashby’s route into professional football coaching and academy management was hardly conventional.

As a player, he was a no-nonsense midfielder for the likes of Cornard, Stowmarket and his home-town team Sudbury Town.

But his playing days were tainted by a horror injury when he was 22, while playing for Long Melford in a game against Clacton.

Ashby said: “It was in a challenge with their goalkeeper.

“Some people said it was an accident but when it was on my leg, it didn’t feel that way at the time.

“He busted the two top knuckles of my knee and ripped off all my tendons.

“I had my cartilage removed and I’ve only got three-quarter movement in my leg now, which I’ve had screwed back together.

“It put me in hospital for over two months because I had it pinned and then I had to have it screwed.

“It was quite horrendous - I was told I would never walk again.

“I played again and that was probably quite stupid but if you like something, you don’t want to let it go.”

Ashby eventually went into coaching, working at Ipswich Town’s academy development centre alongside Steve Greaves.

He ended up running several age groups at Portman Road but while football was always his passion, his bread was previously earned in an entirely different field.

Ashby was at CAV in Sudbury for 18 years, before working as a consultant in the automotive industry.

“That job always required data to back up what I was saying and I’ve brought that here,” said Ashby.

“I’m a bit of a data freak, I suppose - if I’m going to say something, I like to back it up with something.”

Ashby, who turned 50 in June, then joined a company that made radiators for Rover.

But when Rover collapsed in 2005 he lost his job and decided to launch a firm specialising in teaching football in schools.

“That was a turning point in my life,” said Ashby, one of only a small band of coaches in this country to hold the A Licence youth advanced qualification.

“I thought “I’ve been doing everything for everybody else - let’s do something for me”.

“I had no income so I decided I wouldn’t lose anything by giving it a go and everything snowballed from there.

“I’m very lucky - I’m one of the few people who can actually say that they love what they’re doing and get paid for it.”

Ashby worked with the likes of Tony Humes and Richard Hall during his time at Ipswich.

And the trio were reunited at the U’s, soon after Humes was appointed academy manager in 2009.

“Within six months, I got a full-time job here as Head of Foundation, where I worked very closely with Tony to put the EPPP programme together and the coaching model that everyone works to today,” said Ashby.

“Both Sean (Thacker) and I have known Tony and Richard Hall for a long time too and that helps.

“We have a good understanding of what they want and the blend works well all the way through.”

That same continuity continued last September, when Ashby and Thacker were appointed jointly in charge of the U’s academy after Humes and Hall were elevated to first-team duties.

“Tony’s great - he’s someone you can go to talk to and his door is open anytime you want,” said Ashby.

“I used to get on well with Joe Dunne but he was a little bit different natured to Tony.

“Joe was very intense and very focused around what the first team was about.

“But as much as Tony is very focused on the first team, he’s also got a bigger picture of what’s going on and I think that’s beneficial.”

As you drive into the U’s Florence Park training ground, you pass a sign that reads “The Talent Factory”.

Former automotive man Ashby is helping to ensure the production line churns out some of the most outstanding young footballers around.