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
University Technical College Wigan University Technical College Wigan University Technical College Wigan (or Wigan UTC) is a university technical college (UTC) sixth form that opened in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England in September 2013. Wigan UTC specialises in process engineering and environmental technologies, and is located in the historic O & C Rushton Warehouse building in Wigan town centre. Sponsors of the UTC include the University of Central Lancashire and Wigan & Leigh College. Wigan UTC had an initial intake of students aged 14 and 16 (academic years 10 and 12) in 2013, however from 2015 the college stopped enrolling under 16's and now only