Eric Ashton
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| Born | 24 January 1935 St. Helens, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 20 March 2008 (aged 73) St. Helens, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eric Ashton MBE (24 January 1935 – 20 March 2008) was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
He played his whole top flight football career for Wigan along with at times both captaining and coaching them; his position of choice was at centre. Over the span of his career he came to be known as one of the best centres in the modern game and formed a devastating partnership with Billy Boston somewhat because of this combination he went on to represent the Great Britain national side making his début in 1957. After his retirement from playing rugby league in 1969, Ashton went on to coach Wigan as well as Leeds, St. Helens, England and Great Britain; he also had a brief stint as chairman of St Helens in 1996. He was a member of the St Helens board for fifteen years.