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
Johnny Ashcroft of an airline sick-bag. It became the Salvation Army’s 1975 Red Shield Appeal Song. The ‘Sallys’ then became widely known as the ‘Salvos’. It's probable no other Australian country artist appeared on Top 40 Charts as frequently as Ashcroft. Ashcroft also wrote Australia's first female trucking song, "My Home-Coming Trucker’s Coming Home", recorded by Gay Kayler. It became a country hit, which was also programmed into general airplay. His 1978 "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" LP, included a faithful cover-reproduction of Fredrick McCubbin’s 1889 painting, "Down On His Luck". In another departure from modern country music, Ashcroft appeared on