OTD: JACKIE ASHURST DEBUT

On this day in 1972, Jackie Ashurst made his debut for Sunderland in Italy against Atalanta in the Anglo-Italian Cup.

The presence of Pitt and Watson meant that he didn’t feature in our FA Cup campaign of 1972/73, with John Tones and David Young being the preferred replacements when either of our first choice pair were unavailable. The following season brought 21 appearances, including four from the bench, and his first goal – on the last day, in a 4-3 win at Luton.

There were only four games, and no goals, in ’74-75, as the arrival of Jeff Clarke in place of Watson also kept Jackie out of the starting eleven for a couple of years, and he asked for a transfer before an injury to Jeff gave him the break he’d been looking for. He’d played earlier in that promotion-winning season of ’75-’76, notably in our first away game when deployed at right back at Ashton Gate. A shambolic 0-3 defeat proved that, while a perfectly capable defender, Jackie was no full-back, but once he was in for the promotion run-in he kept his place. For the next two seasons, he was a regular alongside Moncur or Clarke – and occasionally both, as part of a three-man central defence. The next two seasons brought 76 appearances and two goals, including a penalty in a 1-1 draw at Orient when partnering Colin Waldron in central defence in August ’77. The performances of Chisholm, Clarke, and Elliot in ’78-’79 restricted Jackie to just 16 appearances – and featured his final goal, a screamer in the 1-2 defeat to Cardiff into the Roker End goal, and his solitary red card, in the League Cup defeat at Stoke, who featured Denis Smith.

He played five times in early ’79-‘80, if you include the Anglo Scottish Cup (ask yer dad) before Blackpool, managed by former Lad Stan Ternent (see previous comment), made him their record signing at £110,000 or £132,400, depending on who you believe. He stayed by the sea for a couple of years before moving up the M6 to Carlisle, where he made around 200 appearances over five seasons before a couple of years at Leeds. At the age of 33 he moved to Doncaster and managed another 139 league games, with a loan spell out of the league at Bridlington. There was a league swansong with a trial with Rochdale in August ’92, which produced a goal a game– mind, he only played the once before joining Frickley Athletic.

An elegant rather than blood and thunder central defender whose ability to carry the ball out of defence saw him occasionally deployed in a defensive midfield role, Jackie was popular with the fans and made 166 appearances for the Lads, scoring four times, in a lengthy career that featured a total of 616 league appearances.