With Manchester United, Ashley Young once won the Europa League and took part in one European Championship and one World Cup with England. At the age of 40, summer is always the end, and whether his career comes to a crowning end may well be decided on Saturday.
Ashley Young has played 485 games in the Premier League and scored 50 goals. There will be no more appearances or goals in the future, although he and his club Ipswich Town are just one win away from being promoted back to England’s top flight. Young will end his career after the season, as his club announced on Thursday.
He spent the majority of his career at Manchester United. In eight and a half years between 2011 and January 2020, the now 40-year-old celebrated a championship with the Red Devils (2013) and the Europa League title in 2017. A year earlier, he also triumphed with Man United in the FA Cup. At his next club, Inter Milan, he also celebrated a major title in 2021 with the Scudetto.
Successful promotion as a farewell?
“I’m incredibly proud and happy to have achieved all of this in my career,” Young was quoted as saying in a statement from his current club. The right-back moved to Ipswich from Everton FC last summer. He is now chasing direct promotion back to the Premier League with the Tractor Boys. Ipswich are second with one matchday to go and could clinch promotion with a win at home to Queens Park Rangers (1.30pm). Otherwise, Young and Co. would continue in the play-offs.
“My full focus is on Saturday and on helping this club achieve our goal: promotion back to the Premier League,” Young emphasized accordingly. Will he be involved? Unclear. The veteran has recently been troubled by hip problems and last appeared on the pitch in January. He has not yet made any plans for the time after his career: “In the next few weeks and months, I will decide what to do next. But that’s all up in the air.”
Fourth in the World Cup as a regular
Young’s career took off at Watford FC before he made his first move to Aston Villa in January 2007, where he quickly became an England international and recommended himself for bigger roles. He took part in the 2012 European Championship for the Three Lions and finished fourth in the 2018 World Cup under Gareth Southgate, at that time still as a regular in left midfield. Young missed the 2014 and 2016 tournaments, having not played an international match for four years in between due to injuries.
Young also has a place in the Premier League history books: in December 2024, he became the fifth-oldest goalscorer in league history when he scored for Everton against Wolverhampton (4-0). Young: “You don’t often think about it while you’re still active, but I’ve been living my dream for the last 23 years.”
