Richard Ashcroft and then attended Winstanley College, where he met Nick McCabe. His teachers referred to him as "the cancer of the class", though one member of staff recalled him being "incredibly intelligent". Ashcroft was an avid football player, playing junior football for Wigan Athletic. For some time Ashcroft wanted to be a professional football player, idolising George Best, but as he grew older he lost interest in this, turning to music instead. Ashcroft formed The Verve (originally just Verve) in 1990 with McCabe, Jones, and Salisbury. The band signed to Hut Records and became well known for their appetite for both
Jimmy Ashcroft 1913 he was released by Blackburn on a free transfer; unable to find a club he was forced to place an advert in "The Athletic News", which read: Ashcroft eventually signed for Tranmere Rovers, where he played for one more season before World War I intervened and all first-class football was halted; he seems to have retired from playing football at that point. He died in 1943, aged 64. Jimmy Ashcroft James Ashcroft (12 September 1878 – 9 April 1943) was an English football goalkeeper. Born in Liverpool, Ashcroft began his career with several local sides, briefly signing as an