Manchester United parted with Dan Ashworth after only five months at Old Trafford but he has continued to make an impression in sporting circles
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Dan Ashworth
Dan Ashworth(Image: Richard Lee/REX/Shutterstock)
Departed Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth has continued to have an association and an influence at Warwickshire County Cricket Club as the Bears press on in their efforts to deliver on-field brilliance.
Ashworth is known for his work at West Bromwich Albion, who he left in 2012 to take up a position within the FA with the Baggies sitting comfortably in the Premier League after a period of bouncing between the top two divisions.
Since, England's youth teams have thrived having benefitted from Ashworth's expertise and have returned from European Championships and World Cups with silverware at various age groups. Ashworth then left for Brighton and Hove Albion, and onto Newcastle United having proven to be in demand with top Premier League sides.
Last year, he was appointed sporting director of Man United but left after a matter of months having been sacked by owners Ineos, who had hired him in the first place. The latest reports suggest that Ashworth is set to return to the FA fold, but he has continued to help the Bears' cause in the meantime.
Ashworth joined the club's committee a couple of years ago in what is understood to be a voluntary role, and his input has been valuable into the performance strategy of the Bears, who revealed their High Performance Review in the winter which involved big changes at coaching level.
"What we decided to do, in light of what I was saying about the changes in our game, was to make sure that people understood what it was to be a Bear and a cricketer - so Ian Bell joined the committee - and then we wanted someone to challenge us on whether we were really at the top of our thinking when it came to developing high performance athletes," Bears CEO Stuart Cain said.
"Dan is arguably one of world's best high performance experts.
"What we think we've got now on the cricket committee is someone in Ian Bell who challenges us about cricket and knows what it means to be a Bear, and in Dan Ashworth someone who brings to the forefront of your thinking the sports psychology, or science and medicine, or developing of training grounds and facilities, or running an academy."