Jamie Ashdown

Jamie Lawrence Ashdown (born 30 November 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He spent a large part of his career at Portsmouth, for whom he made the majority of his professional appearances.

Born in Reading, Berkshire, Ashdown began his career at Reading when he was eight years old.

Ashdown then established a reputation as an exciting prospect for the club.

He signed his professional contract with Reading in February 1998.

On 12 September 2000, Ashdown made his league debut for the club, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute for Phil Whitehead, and played the rest of the game, as he kept a clean in a 5–0 win against Oldham Athletic.

This turns out to be his only appearance of the 2000–01 season.

Ashdown made his first appearance of the 2001–02 season against Colchester United in the Football League Trophy and helped them win 2–1.

Following this, he was offered a new contract by Reading.

After Whitehead suffered an injury, Ashdown started in goal once again, coming against Chesterfield on 1 December 2001, as the club lost 1–0.

At the end of the 2001–02 season, he made four appearances in all competitions.

In March 2001, Ashdown was loaned out to Gravesend & Northfleet for a month.

A year later, he joined Arsenal for work experience placement for the rest of the 2001–02 season.

Despite not being used in the first team, Ashdown said: "I'm still learning the game, but I'm ready to take that step up if the opportunity arises. I played five games for Arsenal reserves and did work with Bob Wilson and David Seaman nearly every day. It was all about gaining experience and playing football at that level and it has been a great help to my confidence."

Following his loan spell at AFC Bournemouth came to an end, Ashdown returned as the club's second choice goalkeeper for the rest of the 2002–03 season.

But he made his an appearance against Grimsby Town on 5 October 2002 and kept a clean sheet, in a 3–0 win.

At the start of the 2002–03 season, Ashdown joined Bournemouth on a one-month loan.

Ashdown made his debut for Bournemouth, starting the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against Oxford United on 27 August 2002.

Following a 1–0 win against Macclesfield Town four days later, he suffered an injury and this resulted in him returning to his parent club.

The start of the 2003–04 season saw Ashdown remain as Reading's second choice goalkeeper and this lasted until he joined Rushden & Diamonds on loan.

It was announced on 13 November 2003 when Ashdown joined Rushden & Diamonds on a one-month loan deal.

He made his debut for the club two days later on 15 November 2003, in a 2–1 loss against Hartlepool United.

Since making his debut for Rushden & Diamonds, Ashdown quickly became the club's first choice goalkeeper and made an impression for the side, resulting in him "earning several 'Player of the month' awards".

This lasted until Ashdown was recalled by his parent club in March.

During his stay at Rushden & Diamonds, he kept four clean sheets out of the nineteen appearances he made.

Ashdown started his first season at Portsmouth as substitute goalkeeper but gained a starting place after an injury to Hislop.

Following this, he signed a contract extension with Reading, keeping him until 2004.

Ashdown appeared in the next two matches before the arrival of Marcus Hahnemann and the recovery of Whitehead saw him return to the substitute bench.

Following loan spell at Rushden & Diamonds came to an end, Ashdown made his first appearance of the 2003–04 season against Cardiff City on 16 March 2004 and helped the side win 3–2.

As a result, he broke into Reading's first-team squad as a result of an injury to first-choice 'keeper Marcus Hahnemann.

Ashdown kept three clean sheets out of the thirteen appearances he made for the Royals.

In the summer of 2004 Ashdown declined Reading's offer of a new contract and instead signed for Premier League club Portsmouth before the start of the 2004–05 season to provide competition for Shaka Hislop, with a view to replacing the veteran on his retirement.

Because he was under 23 at the time, Ashdown was subjected of a compensation as a result of him moving to the club.

Eventually, the agreement was both reached for both sides.

On 20 November 2004, he made his debut for the club, in a 3–1 loss against Manchester City.

Ashdown started in the next five matches for Portsmouth before suffering a groin injury that kept him out for a month.

After the departure of Harry Redknapp as manager and alleged comments by Hislop, a new goalkeeper, Kostas Chalkias, was brought to the club and given the first-team place.

At the end of the 2004–05 season, he made nineteen appearances in all competitions.

After a number of poor performances by Chalkias, he returned to the starting line–up against Newcastle United on 19 March 2005, as Portsmouth drew 1–1.

Ashdown was again restored to the first team and remained there for the remainder of the season.