Former Hull City captain Ian Ashbee is now the player/assistant manager of Hull United
Isn’t it every child’s dream to play in the Premier League?
You’d think for someone who achieved that, and has since retired and gone on to sell watches to the footballers of today, their life would be complete.
But often the love affair never ends, and they are left with a huge void to fill after hanging up their boots.
That’s certainly the case for Ian Ashbee.
After becoming a cult hero in his adopted home of Hull for captaining Hull City from the Third Division to the Premiership in 4 years, he swapped yelling to his team-mates to selling to his team-mates, at Blowers Jewellers in the city centre.
But despite his fairy-tale story, there was one thing missing. Football.
After 3 years away from the game, he realised the clock was ticking and at 38 he had little time to waste in making football part of his life again.
So Ashbee became assistant manager at newly formed Humber Premier League side Hull United in January, alongside another former Tiger Curtis Woodhouse, and the love affair continued.
“I’m at grassroots level and people are saying what are you doing but I’m all about an up and coming club especially in Hull where I’m happy and I’m living and I care about the city and I’m happy if we can teach some younger lads in the local area” he said.
His love for the city came from becoming an icon during Hull City’s most successful years, with the chant “Oh Ian Ashbee” becoming equally iconic at the KC Stadium.
“I think going through the leagues like that is something I can be proud of, it was difficult and there was tough times during my 10 years there at the club but eventually we did it. Looking back it was an incredible journey.
“I live in Hull now, we’ve settled here and got kids here and I think I was never really a silky player, I was the working man’s player. I think they appreciated that, I live amongst them all and it’s something I’m really proud of that they hold me in high regard,” he proclaimed.
But his tough tackling approach came at a cost, it seemed he was involved in one too many rigorous tackles and injuries began to take their toll.
Ashbee admitted “Because of my injuries I understood that I was on borrowed time, it was disappointing to leave football but I just settled down.”
After calling time on his career he ‘settled down’ to another of his passions – watches – using his contact book from football to sell luxury watches at Blowers Jewellers, just 2.4 miles from the KC.
And he often made the short trip to watch his former side reach the Premier League again, and realised he missed waking up on match days and feeling it for real.
Which prompted him to return to the game, to teach the younger generations in the city how to achieve the goal of playing in the Premier League.
Hull United seemed a perfect fit for him and former team-mate Woodhouse, and they have already set out their aspirations to have their own equally amazing journey.
Their dreams have already slowly becoming reality after they beat Hull City U21’s in the Semi-final of the East Riding Senior Cup to give the pair a return to the KC Stadium in the final.
Ashbee admitted “It feels like I’m turning back the clock a bit and going back to enjoying my football, and I hope the winning mentality we had at Hull City can be put into these young kids at Hull United.”