Dean Ashton

Dean Ashton, (born November 24 1983 in Swindon, England), is a professional footballer who currently plays for Norwich City F.C..

He joined Norwich from Crewe Alexandra F.C. for a fee of £3 million in January 2005, breaking the club's transfer record (previously held by the £1m deal that brought Jon Newsome to Norwich City from Leeds United F.C. in 1994). The fee could eventually rise to £3.5million depending on appearances, Crewe also inserted a 20% sell-on clause.

Ashton was a product of Crewe's renowned youth development policy under manager/coach Dario Gradi, and earned England international call-ups at under-19 and under-21 level. He was Crewe's leading scorer, with 20 goals, in the 2003–2004 season, and had scored 18 times for Crewe in the 2004–2005 season prior to his move to Norwich.

Ashton is a strong, powerful forward who is good in the air and a constant threat.

He scored on his home debut for Norwich City against Middlesbrough F.C. in an exciting 8 goal thriller. Norwich came back from 4–1 down to draw the game 4–4.