Ashley Westwood

Ashley Roy Westwood (born 1 April 1990) is an English footballer who plays for Aston Villa as a midfielder.

Crewe Alexandra
Born in Nantwich, Cheshire, Westwood started his footballing career in the academy at Crewe Alexandra. He signed his first professional contract in April 2008, along with Luke Danville, Chris Clements, Josh Thompson, AJ Leitch-Smith and Luke Murphy. He joined hometown club Nantwich Town, playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, on loan in 2008. He made his Crewe debut a year later coming on as a second half substitute in the League One defeat to Milwall at Gresty Road. He made an additional appearance in the 0–0 draw to Swindon Town during the 2008/09 campaign which saw the Railwaymen relegated to League Two.

The following season saw Westwood break into first team appearing 38 times for the club along with six goals – the first coming in a 3–2 away win at Chesterfield. The season, however, did see Westwood receive his first career red card in the 0–1 home defeat to Notts County for squaring up to Luke Rodgers after the pair tussled for the ball, the County striker was sent off for the incident as well. The young midfielder impressed the Crewe management over the season and was rewarded with a new two-year contract in December and his performances over the season were rewarded after being named the clubs player of the season. Speaking of the player's success, Crewe assistant manager Steve Davis commented: "He's a local lad and he's come from nowhere. People didn't really know much about him because he wasn't one of the young rising stars, but over the last 18 months he's kicked on and shown what he can do".

A further 46 appearances followed in the 2010/11 season along with six goals, including two in the 3–3 home draw to Torquay United. Following a string of impressive performances, Westwood signed a new deal intended to keep him at the club until 2014 mid-way through the campaign. Westwood made 47 more appearances in Crewe's successful bid for promotion back into League One, his six goals aided the clubs cause. Although the Englishman had a successful season, his season was marred somewhat by his sending off, the second of his career, in the 4–1 home defeat to Colchester United.

With the release of David Artell in the summer of 2012, Westwood was handed the club captaincy of Crewe by manager Steve Davis. The young midfielder made three league appearances before he was linked with a move to the Premier League with Swansea. "It's the first time he'll have had this sort of speculation in his career," Crewe manager Steve Davis commented before adding: "he's got to be professional in how he deals with it".

Aston Villa
Despite the speculation of a transfer to Swansea City talks between the two clubs broke down as the South Wales club was unable to match the asking price set by the Railwaymen. With talks of the deal reaching a stumbling block, Aston Villa were quick to capitalise and signed the midfielder on the final day of the summer 2012 transfer window. Westwood signed on a four-year deal with the Birmingham based club for a fee believed to be around £2 million.

He made his debut on 15 September 2012, coming on as a second half substitute for Stephen Ireland during a 2–0 win at home to Swansea City. On 3 November, Westwood made his first league start for Villa in a 1-0 win away at Sunderland. The young midfielder was highly praised for his role in the win, alongside Barry Bannan.

Style of play
Westwood operates primarily as a deep-lying playmaker although he is capable playing in a role higher up the midfield as well as right back. After his transfer to Aston Villa, Westwood compared himself to Michael Carrick adding that he is "someone who stays out of the limelight and keeps it simple, retaining the ball and laying it off to team-mates".

Career statistics
Statistics accurate as of match played 11 May 2013.

Honours

 * with Crewe Alexandra
 * Football League Two play-off Final winner: 2012