Paul Ashworth

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Paul Ashworth

Ashworth in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Paul Anthony Ashworth
Date of birth	(1969-09-29) 29 September 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Norwich, Norfolk, England
Youth career
Years	Team
	Norwich City
Managerial career
1992–2000	Cambridge United (academy)
2001–2003	Ventspils
2004	Riga
2005	Rostov (sporting director)
2005	Rostov (caretaker)
2005–2009	Skonto Riga
2010–2014	Kwara Football Academy (technical director)
2015	Sunshine Stars
2015–2018	Ventspils
2019–2020	Astana (technical director)
2020	Astana (caretaker)
2021–2022	Brighton & Hove Albion (video analyst)
2022–2023	Spartak Moscow (sporting director)
2024	Spartak Moscow (technical director)

Paul Anthony Ashworth^[1] (born 29 September 1969^[2]) is an English football manager and former player.

Ashworth had previously played at youth level for Norwich City before setting up PASS Soccer Schools, a national company. He later worked for Cambridge United and Peterborough United before moving to Latvia where he managed Ventspils, Riga and Skonto Riga as well as taking over at Russian side Rostov as Sporting Director. He worked as a technical director in Nigeria from May 2010 – 2014.

He was manager/technical director at Sunshine Stars Football Club, a Nigerian premier league team for six months, before moving back to Ventspils as head coach.

Ashworth came through the youth system at Norwich City, where he played for the side at schoolboy level. He did not make the step up to the first team, though, but began to coach the youth teams at the club.^[2]

While Ashworth was at Carrow Road, he set up his own company, PASS Soccer Schools.^[3]

In 1992, Cambridge United offered Ashworth a role as youth development officer at the club's Abbey Stadium.^[4]

In a league dominated by multi-championship winning side Skonto Riga, Ashworth secured two consecutive runners-up finishes, a Latvian Cup triumph and steered his squad into the UEFA Cup for the first time. In subsequent seasons, they also played Finnish side HJK Helsinki and Swiss club Lugano, winning their first European match.^[5]

Having previously been unsuccessfully interviewed for the vacant managers position at Russian Premier League club Rostov, Ashworth was approached by the president of the club offering him the position of Sporting Director. He accepted the role and was responsible for all of the football side of the club such as youth policy, transfer policy, dealing with visas and international players, research and building of new training facilities as well as liaison with the manager on first team matters. After taking charge temporarily for two matches, he became the first Englishman ever to coach in the Russian Premier League.^[6]

It was during this period that he self titled himself as "The Mourinho of Latvia", simply due to not being good enough to play professionally in senior football.^[7]

In 2009, Ashworth moved to the position of technical director of Nigeria's only residential football academy, The Kwara Football Academy. Based in Ilorin, it takes talented youngsters from the ages of 13 to 21 and trains them as professional footballers while allowing them to get educated at the same time. Ashworth now^[when?] has a staff of nine coaches and more than eighty full-time staff under his tutelage, and has developed excellent facilities and training programmes^[8]

On 14 January 2019, Astana announced the appointment of Ashworth as their new executive director.^[9] Following the dismissal of manager Michal Bílek on 26 August 2020, Ashworth was appointed acting head-coach of Astana.^[10] Ashworth left his role as caretaker manager and executive director by mutual consent on 7 October 2020.^[11]

As of 27 August 2021

• Paul Ashworth at Soccerway