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 Steven was lost) to Monday, 8 February (when he was found alive and well). During the fourth "Australian Variety Artists MO Awards" in 1979 1979 Mo winners Ashcroft received the "first Male Country Entertainer Mo award"–a performance award voted for by his peers. This was followed by a "National Award For Service To Australian country music". He is to be found in Tamworth's "Australasian Country Music Hands of Fame" and Australian Roll of Renown. Johnny Ashcroft was awarded the "Medal of the Order Of Australia (OAM)" in 1990 and is a "Fellow of the Australian Institute of History and Arts