A biography for Ashley Younghasn’t been written yet.
“It's about taking the game to the opposition, always believing in yourself.”
“I had three brothers: one older, two younger.”
“I've always got that determination, to get back in the squad and get back playing.”
“I'm not a cheat. I'm not a diver.”
“It's just determination, working hard, and keeping my feet on the ground in training and keep on proving people wrong.”
“You don't enter a competition not to win it.”
“As you get older, you start to read the game more, and as your brain starts working more, and as you get a good footballing brain, your legs start slowing down!”
“Once you look back on your career when it's over, you can say, 'This is what I achieved,' or, 'This is what I'm driving.'”
“I wouldn't say I've changed at all. A lot of people will keep saying I'm a different person, especially when I go across those white lines. I think it's just the hunger and desire and passion I've got for the game.”
“When Martin O'Neill spent £9m on me to take me to Villa, it was a massive boost.”
“I was 11 years old and was racially abused on the pitch. It was obviously disappointing to hear it at such a young age.”
“Things happen on football pitches. Once the game is finished, you don't need to talk afterwards. That's just how it is.”
“If I do well for my club, I will get recognition.”
“A lot's been said about me playing for three different managers.”
“I've always had to fight. Throughout my life, it's been a fight to get to where I am now.”
“I am one of those players who has many scars up and down my legs from being kicked, but I know I have a job to do, and beating my opponent is my goal.”
“I had the brain for football, but I didn't have the height. So I started using my brain to overcome those weaknesses and discovered football isn't just about size or power: it's about what's up there. That was the making of me.”
“Things can be dissected too much. It's football. Go and play.”
“I'll relish playing at Wembley in a major cup final. It's a great achievement for me, and it's why I became a footballer, because I want to win medals.”
“I'm confident in my own ability, and if I'm called upon to play on the right, the left, or as the main striker, then I can play there.”