"He used to hate us and now he saves us"

It is fair to say that following Boreham Wood’s dull 0-0 draw against Ebbsfleet United on 17^th November 2018, the Ebbsfleet goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore wasn’t a favourite among the Boreham Wood supporters. However, two years on, the “Wood Army” feel very different about him. This blog will explain why someone who was so unpopular can suddenly be a firm fans favourite among us fickle supporters and become the best player to ever put a Number One shirt on for Boreham Wood Football Club. 

The events of that day have been well documented. Following the match, Nathan Ashmore jumped into the Boreham Wood home end to berate a Boreham Wood supporter who had been calling him names. This led to a bit of a free for all. There was a bit of pushing and shoving but a couple of Boreham Wood supporters managed to calm Ashmore. Also, half a dozen or so players from both teams also jumped in the stand too and were bickering among themselves. The fracas was over within minutes and Nathan Ashmore and his team mates went back into their dressing room. When a player leaves the field of play to have a go at a supporter, it’s bound to be plastered over social media and in the newspapers. There was plenty of heated debate on social media between supporters of the two clubs. The Ebbsfleet supporters were justifying Ashmore’s actions as he shouldn’t have to stand for being called names. It was also wrongly assumed by some of them that there was a racist comments among the name calling. The Boreham Wood supporters pointed out that Ashmore shouldn’t have come into the stand whatever the provocation. Looking back, the incident was very regrettable and neither party should have done what they did.  

What happened that afternoon was by no means the first or last time Nathan Ashmore had been subject to abuse from opposition supporters during football matches. Ashmore has always been very popular with supporters of club’s he has played for but is often a bit of a “pantomime villain” for opposition fans. The truth is, he is a competitive soul, very focused and extremely vocal during a match, constantly shouting instructions at team mates. It seems that opposition supporters see this as an attempt to wind them up when the truth is, he is still doing that now with no supporters in football grounds due to the pandemic. 

Nathan Ashmore has been well known to Boreham Wood supporters before the events of two years ago. Any of our fans who have watched the team as far back as the 2013-14 season will know of Ashmore when he played for Gosport Borough against Boreham Wood during the Conference South days. He has always turned in solid displays against us. Ashmore had been on the books at his home town league club Portsmouth as a youngster before being released. He was then at Havant & Waterlooville but for some reason, they let him go to local rivals Gosport Borough. This coincided with a great period in the history of The Boro. In 2013 they were promoted to the Conference South and in 2014 they made their first ever trip to Wembley in the FA Trophy Final after beating Ashmore’s old side Havant & Waterlooville in a memorable two legged semi-final. They were eventually well beaten in the final by Conference National side Cambridge United. Nathan Ashmore was sold to big spending National League South side Ebbsfleet United in 2016. In 2017 he was part of their side who got promoted to the National League following a play-off final victory against Chelmsford City. In 2018, Ebbsfleet United made it to the National League Play off semi-final following a memorable penalty shootout victory in the Eliminator Tie against Aldershot Town until they succumb to Tranmere Rovers away. 

That was as good as it got for Ashmore at Ebbsfleet United. By the end of the 2018-19 season the club were in severe financial trouble and their players were often not paid on time. By the summer of 2019 they were trying to get rid of their high earners including Ashmore and he was suddenly out of the Ebbsfleet side with a goalkeeper of half his ability in front of him. 

In truth Boreham Wood supporters had mellowed towards Nathan Ashmore well before we signed him in October 2019.  Following that Ebbsfleet match, we were all under the impression that there would be a full blown riot at the return fixture on 16^th March 2019. Half the Kent Police Constabulary would have to be mobilised as every “hard nut” associated with either clubs were looking forward to a big “tear up”. Fortunately, by the time we got to the return fixture, everything was calm. There was no trouble, no segregation and Ashmore even clapped us and we clapped him. It was as if the events of 17^th November 2018 never happened. Following the match, news of the tragic death of Michael Thalassitis who had served both clubs well put everything in to perspective. 

The surprise news that Boreham Wood had signed Nathan Ashmore on October 2019 for the rest of the season was met with a mixed response by a lot of Boreham Wood supporters. While the majority were in favour, there were some who didn’t want him. Personally I knew how good he was so it was a no brainer. With Ashmore’s on the transfer list at Ebbsfleet, I was staggered that no one else had come in for him. Predictable Ashmore settled in immediately and anyone who wasn’t happy with his arrival quickly changed their minds. If you have ever spoken to him, Ashmore is a good guy, very friendly and hardly the monster people thought he was two years ago!! 

He became a key part of Boreham Wood excellent run to the play off semi-final at the end of the 2019-20 season. During the six months from October 2019 to March 2020, before the pandemic and the enforced shut down, Ashmore had become a fans favourite, particularly among the newer supporters who were now attending Boreham Wood games in large numbers. They even made up their own song to the tune of Ritchie Valens song “La Bamba” 

“Nathan Ashmore, Nathan Ashmore

He used to hate us and now he saves us

His hands are fucking massive”       

Following the disappointing defeat in the play-off semi-final against Harrogate Town, the news that Ashmore had signed a two year contract to remain at the club was just the tonic we needed. I didn’t hear one dissenting voice on this occasion!! He has started the 2020-21 season in great form and his well-documented saves against Halifax Town, Solihull Moors and Wimborne Town were incredible. Ashmore was also immense in our penalty shootout FA Cup First round victory over Southend United. He has this incredible knack of making players miss the target in shootouts even if he hasn't directly made a save. We saw it against Southend and in that play-off game between Ebbsfleet United and Aldershot Town.

When Boreham Wood supporters are finally allowed back in the ground, I expect the rapport that they have with Nathan Ashmore will continue and strengthen. I also hope that having this fantastic goalkeeper at the club for at least two more years will help propel Boreham Wood to the Football League while I continue to scratch my head as to why he isn’t playing there already.