It’s 500 up for Jay Foulds! Ashton Athletic’s gaffer hits a great mark
Thu 29th August 2024 | Ashton Athletic | By Jay Cooper
It might be old-ish news to any hardcore follower of the NWCFL, but it’s a fact that’s worth repeating, given how cut-throat the world of football management can be – on Tuesday, August 20th, Jay Foulds took to the dugout as manager of Ashton Athletic for the 500th time.
The game itself was nothing to shout about from an Ashton perspective, given that they were beaten 5-1 away at Droylsden, but from taking over the manager’s position at the club in 2013, to still be guiding the club through some of the choppier waters of his tenure towards the end of 2024 is mightily impressive.
Foulds was brought in as manager of Ashton Athletic over 11 years ago. This was done ahead of the 2013/14 campaign, with Jay taking over from Jimmy McBride, who had done the job of helping Ashton Athletic survive in the NWCFL Premier Division the previous season.
With his managerial CV consisting most recently of being the assistant gaffer at Wigan Robin Park, and with this being his first go as the man at the helm, it was probably unfathomable to many at the time that he would make it 500 games. Least of all, Foulds himself, who told me as much last week.
“It was all a bit out the blue, and managing a club was not something I’d given much thought about, but it definitely felt right at the time. My two best mates, Dougie Pitts and Ben Kay, had discussed it with me, and we said, ‘let’s do it’. The rest is history, I suppose. We built a new team from scratch, and we surprised quite a few others in that first season. I still remember it like it was yesterday.”
Surprise is right. From 20th and near relegation in 2012/13, Ashton rocketed up the table in 2013/14, finishing 6th of 22 – coincidentally, Wigan Robin Park, who Foulds had left the previous year, dropped from 12th to bottom, and were relegated. However, perhaps the biggest shocker from that season involving Ashton Athletic came in the Challenge Cup.
The NWCFL Challenge Cup is what we now know as the Macron Cup, and let’s say that, hypothetically, Ashton Athletic were to win the Challenge Cup in Jay Foulds’ first season in charge, then it would have been their first piece of recognised silverware in over three decades. So, what do you think happened next?
“In the run up to the later stages, we performed really well and got to the final quite comfortably. The semi-final was over two legs, and we went and won both to guarantee our place. We faced Maine Road in the final, who were very strong opposition, with multiple players at the time who have progressed higher up the pyramid. They had beaten us both home and away in the league, so we went into the game as underdogs.
“The game was very cagey and just one goal was always going to be the winner. Adam Gilchrist scored in the 77th minute and we just about hung on – funnily, this game was also a clean sheet for me as player-manager! We celebrated until the early hours afterwards, and it was a night I’ll never forget.”
That was certainly one way for the new gaffer to endear himself to the fans and the surrounding community at the club, but consistency would be key to keeping that endearment going. Apparently, that was no problem for Jay Foulds. The 2014/15 season saw the club climb slightly higher in the NWCFL Premier Division, to 5th; the 2015/16 campaign was only slightly worse, with the club still sitting comfortably in 7th by the close of business. The 2016/17 season… let’s talk about that shall we?
Another factor in the progress that Ashton Athletic were making under Foulds was silverware. Put simply, the club would definitely not have wanted to wait another 30+ years for a trophy after breaking their duck in 2014. Given the fact that we are 11 years into Foulds’ premiership in the modern day, perhaps it’s not the most outrageous thought that he would still be in charge if the wait had extended beyond what it did, but it turns out that all he needed to bring more trophies to Brocstedes Park was three years.
The club would slip further down the league table in this 2016/17 season, eventually finishing 9th, but that can perhaps be excused when you consider that the club were in the midst of a LFA Challenge Trophy campaign that would see out the run time of the season. In another tale that Jay Foulds can tell as if it only happened moments ago, he said that “The Lancashire County Cup is a competition where you seem to make up the numbers, with the likes of Southport and Chorley also competing in it.
“We progressed to the semi-final, where we played against Chorley. We went 1-0 up thanks to a fantastic Paul Watson goal. From then on, we had our backs against the wall. Chorley equalised, but we defended brilliantly to take the game to penalties. We kept our heads, and the shootout saw our keeper, Martin Pearson, come out as the hero.
“The final was on my birthday at Bolton Wanderers’ stadium (now called the Toughsheet Community Stadium), and we faced Radcliffe Borough (now called Radcliffe FC). It was bittersweet timing, as joint-manager Dougie Pitts was at Disneyland Paris and missed the occasion - he still gets ribbed about that today!
“Again, we went into the game as underdogs, and it showed for the first 45 minutes. We went 1-0 down and looked beaten, but up stepped Danny Smith to equalise, and with minutes remaining, Lee Vaughan latched onto a long kick from Martin Pearson to win the trophy. It was the best birthday present I’ve ever had, and probably will ever get!”
By the time the hangover from winning the LFA Challenge Trophy had worn off, and by the time the new 2017/18 season had gotten underway, Foulds was fast approaching five straight years in the Brocstedes Park dugout. It’s fair to say he mustered up a few highlights in his time there up to that point, but to hear the man himself say it, there has been much more than league consistency and cup triumphs to enjoy for Jay Foulds in his role as manager.
“My fondest memories are of experiences and friendships. First and foremost, to manage a club with your two best mates in Ben (Kay) and Doug (Pitts) was amazing. We still talk regularly about the laughs and memories we had. The management hasn’t changed too much, but Dave Tickle has been another constant over the years and I’m very lucky to work with him.
“Dave still gives 100%, and with Liam Hook also involved, we have a great setup. Next to that are the players who have progressed up the ladder - the likes of Charlie Munro (now of FC United of Manchester) and Marcus Cusani (now of Lancaster City), to name a couple.
“Finally, there’s the cup away days, in the FA Cup and FA Vase. We have had some cracking coach trips in my time as manager – probably most notably was Morpeth away on a Tuesday night, and we won 2-1. All I’ll say is I’m glad I didn’t volunteer to drive!”
This article so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and that’s mainly because the majority of Jay Foulds’ years as manager have been filled with positive happenings for Ashton Athletic. But the closer we get to the modern day, the less impressive your knowledge of the NWCFL has to be to know where the club currently find themselves.
After a few years of slowly slipping further and further down the NWCFL Premier Division table, not helped by a global pandemic causing non-league football to essentially stop for 18 straight months, the 2022/23 season was one that saw Ashton Athletic prop up the rest of the division, and they would be relegated. In the end, they finished on 18 points – half the total of second-bottom Burscough.
This was, understandably, not one of Jay Foulds’ happiest memories at Ashton, but it’s still one he was willing to say a few words about. “I never thought it would happen, and I’m still embarrassed that it did. The team went through a tough period after the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are still trying to correct it even now. The league as a whole has certainly gotten stronger, but I also think teams respect Ashton Athletic a lot more, which is a positive. As long as I’m at Ashton, I’ll keep fighting to hit our goals.”
Relegation in modern football does often lead to managers either walking out of the club, or the board deciding that a change of direction is necessary. Both Jay Foulds and Ashton Athletic decided that this wouldn’t be for the best in this case. To know why the board decided to stick to the devil they know, you’d have to ask them directly. To hear it from Jay Foulds, “it’s the people!”
“The chairman Jimmy Whyte has stood by me, especially these last few years when others wouldn’t have. We are a small family club, and we all pull in the same direction. I’m a very loyal person and believe in treating others how you want to be treated. I suppose I’m part of the furniture now but to be totally honest, it only feels like weeks that I’ve been here, not the years that it has”.
Ashton Athletic are now going into their second season in the NWCFL First Division North, having managed a respectable 11th place finish in 2023/24, and we’re starting to get into the swing of things in 2024/25 as this is being written. As mentioned right at the top of this article, game number 500 for Foulds was probably one to forget, with Droylsden beating them 5-1, but the rest of their season so far certainly hasn’t made for such unfavourable viewing.
From 9 league games, Ashton have won 4 and drawn 1, and currently sit 10th in the table. They also advanced from the First Qualifying Round of the Isuzu FA Vase in game number 501 for Jay Foulds, knocking off Stockport Georgians.
Ahead of that match, when looking to his future at the club, Foulds told me that, “things are certainly getting harder, and the club may want a change of direction, but for now I’ll keep giving my all until the Chairman tells me not to bother coming. I’d never cut ties with the club permanently, and if/when I do leave, I’ll always want to stay affiliated and help wherever I can.”
If that departure is to happen anytime in the near future, it would leave a hole in the ship that hasn’t been there in quite some time. Even though the club are technically a rung further down the ladder of English Football than what they were, they have two major pieces of silverware under their belts, and have continued as veterans of the NWCFL with their extended tenure in the league, all under the supervision of Jay Foulds.
No matter how many more games Jay will manage for Ashton Athletic, his thoughts are that, “I want people on the outside to think we are a well-run club, with good people who do what they can as part of a small club to help the community. We play football the right way and are respectful when we visit opposing teams.
“And finally, I would like to say thank you to all of my past staff, players, fans and committee for all your support over the years, and long may it continue!”
There’s not a more appropriate bow I could put on this article than that.
It’s 500 up for Jay Foulds! Ashton Athletic’s gaffer hits a great mark
Thu 29th August 2024 | Ashton Athletic
By Jay Cooper
It might be old-ish news to any hardcore follower of the NWCFL, but it’s a fact that’s worth repeating, given how cut-throat the world of football management can be – on Tuesday, August 20th, Jay Foulds took to the dugout as manager of Ashton Athletic for the 500th time.
The game itself was nothing to shout about from an Ashton perspective, given that they were beaten 5-1 away at Droylsden, but from taking over the manager’s position at the club in 2013, to still be guiding the club through some of the choppier waters of his tenure towards the end of 2024 is mightily impressive.
Foulds was brought in as manager of Ashton Athletic over 11 years ago. This was done ahead of the 2013/14 campaign, with Jay taking over from Jimmy McBride, who had done the job of helping Ashton Athletic survive in the NWCFL Premier Division the previous season.
With his managerial CV consisting most recently of being the assistant gaffer at Wigan Robin Park, and with this being his first go as the man at the helm, it was probably unfathomable to many at the time that he would make it 500 games. Least of all, Foulds himself, who told me as much last week.
“It was all a bit out the blue, and managing a club was not something I’d given much thought about, but it definitely felt right at the time. My two best mates, Dougie Pitts and Ben Kay, had discussed it with me, and we said, ‘let’s do it’. The rest is history, I suppose. We built a new team from scratch, and we surprised quite a few others in that first season. I still remember it like it was yesterday.”
Surprise is right. From 20th and near relegation in 2012/13, Ashton rocketed up the table in 2013/14, finishing 6th of 22 – coincidentally, Wigan Robin Park, who Foulds had left the previous year, dropped from 12th to bottom, and were relegated. However, perhaps the biggest shocker from that season involving Ashton Athletic came in the Challenge Cup.
The NWCFL Challenge Cup is what we now know as the Macron Cup, and let’s say that, hypothetically, Ashton Athletic were to win the Challenge Cup in Jay Foulds’ first season in charge, then it would have been their first piece of recognised silverware in over three decades. So, what do you think happened next?
“In the run up to the later stages, we performed really well and got to the final quite comfortably. The semi-final was over two legs, and we went and won both to guarantee our place. We faced Maine Road in the final, who were very strong opposition, with multiple players at the time who have progressed higher up the pyramid. They had beaten us both home and away in the league, so we went into the game as underdogs.
“The game was very cagey and just one goal was always going to be the winner. Adam Gilchrist scored in the 77th minute and we just about hung on – funnily, this game was also a clean sheet for me as player-manager! We celebrated until the early hours afterwards, and it was a night I’ll never forget.”
That was certainly one way for the new gaffer to endear himself to the fans and the surrounding community at the club, but consistency would be key to keeping that endearment going. Apparently, that was no problem for Jay Foulds. The 2014/15 season saw the club climb slightly higher in the NWCFL Premier Division, to 5th; the 2015/16 campaign was only slightly worse, with the club still sitting comfortably in 7th by the close of business. The 2016/17 season… let’s talk about that shall we?
Another factor in the progress that Ashton Athletic were making under Foulds was silverware. Put simply, the club would definitely not have wanted to wait another 30+ years for a trophy after breaking their duck in 2014. Given the fact that we are 11 years into Foulds’ premiership in the modern day, perhaps it’s not the most outrageous thought that he would still be in charge if the wait had extended beyond what it did, but it turns out that all he needed to bring more trophies to Brocstedes Park was three years.
The club would slip further down the league table in this 2016/17 season, eventually finishing 9th, but that can perhaps be excused when you consider that the club were in the midst of a LFA Challenge Trophy campaign that would see out the run time of the season. In another tale that Jay Foulds can tell as if it only happened moments ago, he said that “The Lancashire County Cup is a competition where you seem to make up the numbers, with the likes of Southport and Chorley also competing in it.
“We progressed to the semi-final, where we played against Chorley. We went 1-0 up thanks to a fantastic Paul Watson goal. From then on, we had our backs against the wall. Chorley equalised, but we defended brilliantly to take the game to penalties. We kept our heads, and the shootout saw our keeper, Martin Pearson, come out as the hero.
“The final was on my birthday at Bolton Wanderers’ stadium (now called the Toughsheet Community Stadium), and we faced Radcliffe Borough (now called Radcliffe FC). It was bittersweet timing, as joint-manager Dougie Pitts was at Disneyland Paris and missed the occasion - he still gets ribbed about that today!
“Again, we went into the game as underdogs, and it showed for the first 45 minutes. We went 1-0 down and looked beaten, but up stepped Danny Smith to equalise, and with minutes remaining, Lee Vaughan latched onto a long kick from Martin Pearson to win the trophy. It was the best birthday present I’ve ever had, and probably will ever get!”
By the time the hangover from winning the LFA Challenge Trophy had worn off, and by the time the new 2017/18 season had gotten underway, Foulds was fast approaching five straight years in the Brocstedes Park dugout. It’s fair to say he mustered up a few highlights in his time there up to that point, but to hear the man himself say it, there has been much more than league consistency and cup triumphs to enjoy for Jay Foulds in his role as manager.
“My fondest memories are of experiences and friendships. First and foremost, to manage a club with your two best mates in Ben (Kay) and Doug (Pitts) was amazing. We still talk regularly about the laughs and memories we had. The management hasn’t changed too much, but Dave Tickle has been another constant over the years and I’m very lucky to work with him.
“Dave still gives 100%, and with Liam Hook also involved, we have a great setup. Next to that are the players who have progressed up the ladder - the likes of Charlie Munro (now of FC United of Manchester) and Marcus Cusani (now of Lancaster City), to name a couple.
“Finally, there’s the cup away days, in the FA Cup and FA Vase. We have had some cracking coach trips in my time as manager – probably most notably was Morpeth away on a Tuesday night, and we won 2-1. All I’ll say is I’m glad I didn’t volunteer to drive!”
This article so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and that’s mainly because the majority of Jay Foulds’ years as manager have been filled with positive happenings for Ashton Athletic. But the closer we get to the modern day, the less impressive your knowledge of the NWCFL has to be to know where the club currently find themselves.
After a few years of slowly slipping further and further down the NWCFL Premier Division table, not helped by a global pandemic causing non-league football to essentially stop for 18 straight months, the 2022/23 season was one that saw Ashton Athletic prop up the rest of the division, and they would be relegated. In the end, they finished on 18 points – half the total of second-bottom Burscough.
This was, understandably, not one of Jay Foulds’ happiest memories at Ashton, but it’s still one he was willing to say a few words about. “I never thought it would happen, and I’m still embarrassed that it did. The team went through a tough period after the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are still trying to correct it even now. The league as a whole has certainly gotten stronger, but I also think teams respect Ashton Athletic a lot more, which is a positive. As long as I’m at Ashton, I’ll keep fighting to hit our goals.”
Relegation in modern football does often lead to managers either walking out of the club, or the board deciding that a change of direction is necessary. Both Jay Foulds and Ashton Athletic decided that this wouldn’t be for the best in this case. To know why the board decided to stick to the devil they know, you’d have to ask them directly. To hear it from Jay Foulds, “it’s the people!”
“The chairman Jimmy Whyte has stood by me, especially these last few years when others wouldn’t have. We are a small family club, and we all pull in the same direction. I’m a very loyal person and believe in treating others how you want to be treated. I suppose I’m part of the furniture now but to be totally honest, it only feels like weeks that I’ve been here, not the years that it has”.
Ashton Athletic are now going into their second season in the NWCFL First Division North, having managed a respectable 11th place finish in 2023/24, and we’re starting to get into the swing of things in 2024/25 as this is being written. As mentioned right at the top of this article, game number 500 for Foulds was probably one to forget, with Droylsden beating them 5-1, but the rest of their season so far certainly hasn’t made for such unfavourable viewing.
From 9 league games, Ashton have won 4 and drawn 1, and currently sit 10th in the table. They also advanced from the First Qualifying Round of the Isuzu FA Vase in game number 501 for Jay Foulds, knocking off Stockport Georgians.
Ahead of that match, when looking to his future at the club, Foulds told me that, “things are certainly getting harder, and the club may want a change of direction, but for now I’ll keep giving my all until the Chairman tells me not to bother coming. I’d never cut ties with the club permanently, and if/when I do leave, I’ll always want to stay affiliated and help wherever I can.”
If that departure is to happen anytime in the near future, it would leave a hole in the ship that hasn’t been there in quite some time. Even though the club are technically a rung further down the ladder of English Football than what they were, they have two major pieces of silverware under their belts, and have continued as veterans of the NWCFL with their extended tenure in the league, all under the supervision of Jay Foulds.
No matter how many more games Jay will manage for Ashton Athletic, his thoughts are that, “I want people on the outside to think we are a well-run club, with good people who do what they can as part of a small club to help the community. We play football the right way and are respectful when we visit opposing teams.
“And finally, I would like to say thank you to all of my past staff, players, fans and committee for all your support over the years, and long may it continue!”
There’s not a more appropriate bow I could put on this article than that.
