Ashley Westwood (footballer, born 1976)

Ashley Westwood
Westwood in 2009
Personal information
Full name Ashley Michael Westwood
Date of birth (1976-08-31) 31 August 1976
Place of birth Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Hong Kong (manager)
Youth career
Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1998 Crewe Alexandra 96 (9)
1998–2000 Bradford City 24 (2)
2000Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 5 (1)
2000–2003 Sheffield Wednesday 77 (4)
2003–2006 Northampton Town 31 (2)
2006–2008 Chester City 21 (3)
2007Swindon Town (loan) 9 (0)
2007Port Vale (loan) 12 (0)
2008 Stevenage Borough 20 (2)
2008–2010 Wrexham 61 (3)
2010–2011 Kettering Town 12 (0)
2011 Crewe Alexandra 6 (0)
2011 Northampton Town 17 (1)
2012 Kettering Town 9 (1)
2012 Lincoln City 0 (0)
2012 Portsmouth 0 (0)
Total 403 (28)
Managerial career
2012 Kettering Town
2013–2016 Bengaluru FC
2016–2017 Penang FA
2018 ATK (caretaker)
2021–2022 RoundGlass Punjab
2023–2024 Afghanistan
2024– Hong Kong
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ashley Michael Westwood (born 31 August 1976) is an English football manager and former professional player who is currently the head coach of the Hong Kong national team.

A graduate of the Manchester United Academy, the defender signed with Crewe Alexandra in 1995. Three years later, he moved on to Bradford City. Winning promotion to the Premier League with the Bantams, he transferred to Sheffield Wednesday in 2000. He moved on to Northampton Town in 2003, where he stayed for three years. Signing with Chester City in 2006, he was loaned to Swindon Town and Port Vale in 2007, before joining Wrexham via Stevenage Borough the following year.

He spent the 2010–11 season with Kettering Town before returning to Crewe Alexandra for a brief spell in 2011. Later in the year, he re-joined another former club, Northampton Town. In December 2011, he was released from the Cobblers after his contract had not been renewed. He was appointed player-caretaker manager at Kettering Town the following month before returning just to playing duties with Lincoln City in May 2012. Two months later, he became a player-coach at Portsmouth before becoming a full-time coach at Blackpool in November 2012. In his 18-year playing career, he scored 34 goals in 468 competitive appearances in the Football League and Conference. He was promoted four times with four clubs.

He began his full-time management career with the Indian club Bengaluru FC in 2013. He led them to two I-League titles (2013–14 and 2015–16) in three seasons, as well as the Indian Federation Cup in 2015. He was appointed head coach at Malaysia Super League club Penang FA in November 2016 but lasted just five months in the role. He was appointed as director of football at ATK in July 2017 and took over as head coach on an interim basis in January 2018. He was appointed as RoundGlass Punjab head coach in July 2021. He became head coach of the Afghanistan national team in November 2023 and then Hong Kong in August 2024.