Three West Ham careers wrecked by injury
Dean Ashton
Almost certainly the most heart-breaking for West Ham fans. Dean Ashton was a hero at the club. The Englishman’s time at West Ham shows exactly how injuries can ruin a players career.
Signed in 2006 from Norwich for £7.5 million, a club-record fee at the time. Ashton hit the ground running for the Hammers, scoring eight goals in fourteen appearances. This included an FA Cup final goal, which sadly ended in defeat to Liverpool.
What followed this promising start was merely awful. Ashton missed the entirety of the next season (2006/07) because of an injury he picked up while away on England duty. Shaun Wright-Phillips cause the infamous ankle injury in a tackle during training.
After missing a year of football, the striker did make his return to the pitch for the 2007/08 season. Ashton was brilliant that season, he played thirty-one times and scored ten goals and assisted one more in the Premier League. These goals included a famous overhead kick at Old Trafford. Fans were hopeful the former Norwich man’s injury worries were behind him, and he would go on to become West Ham’s top Premier League goalscorer.
Sadly this was not the case. Ashton’s ankle gave up again during the 2008/09 season. The Englishman only managed to make five appearances in all competitions, and he still managed two goals and two assists despite playing in constant pain.
Ashton was forced to announce his retirement from football at the young age of twenty-six. The striker was robbed of his best footballing years. Ashton finished at the club having only played fifty-six times and scoring nineteen times in four years.
West Ham lost out off and on the pitch. Ashton’s wages and lack of any potential sale cost the club financially. More importantly, the club lost out on a striker who was touted as the next Geoff Hurst.
Next. Who could West Ham use most now, Payet or Di Canio?. dark
It is safe to say that if none of these players had suffered the injuries they had, West Ham would have had a lot more success. Who knows, maybe there could have been some sacred silverware.