Ashley Nadesan
Nadesan with Horley Town in 2013
Personal information
Full name Ashley Kevin Nadesan[1]
Date of birth (1994-09-09) 9 September 1994 (age 29)
Place of birth Redhill, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Gillingham
Number 10
Youth career
2012–2013 Horley Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Horley Town
2016–2019 Fleetwood Town 21 (1)
2018 → Carlisle United (loan) 15 (4)
2018–2019 → Carlisle United (loan) 25 (8)
2019–2023 Crawley Town 146 (26)
2023– Gillingham 29 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:44, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Ashley Kevin Nadesan (born 9 September 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Gillingham.

Career

Horley Town

Born in Redhill, Surrey,[3] He began his career at Combined Counties club Horley Town, leading their Youth side in both league and cup in the 2012–13 season, sometimes playing at centre-back.[4] He graduated to the first team at Horley, and became a regular starter.[4] He came to the notice of professional clubs towards the end of the 2014–15 season having scored a total of 99 goals for Horley in league and cup in the previous two seasons.[5] Nadesan was also the Combined Counties top scorer for the 2015–16 season, scoring 45 goals in the Premier Division,[6] having finished runner-up the previous season.[7]

Fleetwood Town

He joined Fleetwood in July 2016 for an undisclosed sum,[5] before making his Football League debut for Fleetwood in August 2017 against AFC Wimbledon.[8]

He moved on loan to Carlisle United in January 2018.[9] At the end of the 2017–18 season, Fleetwood exercised an option to extend Nadesan's contract by one year.[10] He returned on loan to Carlisle United in August 2018.[11]

Crawley Town

In May 2019 he moved to Crawley Town on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract.[12] However, Nadesan missed much of the pre-season through an ankle injury.[13] Nadesan made his Crawley debut on 13 August 2019, playing the first 60 minutes of a 3–2 EFL Cup win over Walsall, in which he scored and gained an assist.[14] He scored his first league goal for Crawley on 29 December 2019; a right-footed equaliser in the 37th minute of a 1–1 draw at Grimsby Town.[15] He appeared in 25 league matches during the 2019–20 season, and scored 5 goals.[16]

Nadesan scored Crawley's second goal of a 3–0 FA Cup third round win over Premier League side Leeds United on 10 January 2021.[17]

In June 2022 he signed a two-year contract with the club.[18]

Gillingham

In July 2023 he signed for League Two side Gillingham for an undisclosed fee.[19] He made his debut on 8 August 2023 against Championship side Southampton, scoring the first goal in a 3–1 First Round EFL Cup victory.[20]

Style of play

Due to his goal-scoring ability, Nadesan has been compared to England international and fellow former Fleetwood Town forward Jamie Vardy. Knaphill manager Keith Hills said of him, "there's something about the way he plays, his ability and how he reads the game. He obviously scores goals and he's very quick and combines speed with agility."[21]

Career statistics

As of match played 7 May 2022[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Fleetwood Town 2016–17 League One 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2017–18 League One 1 0 0 0 0 0 3[a] 0 4 0
2018–19 League One 20 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 1
Total 21 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 24 1
Carlisle United (loan) 2017–18 League Two 15 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 4
Carlisle United (loan) 2018–19 League Two 25 8 0 0 0 0 3[a] 1 28 9
Crawley Town 2019–20 League Two 25 5 2 1 2 1 1 0 30 7
2020–21 League Two 40 5 4 3 1 0 1 0 46 8
2021–22 League Two 39 9 1 0 1 0 1 0 42 9
Total 104 19 7 4 4 1 3 0 118 24
Career total 164 32 7 4 4 1 9 1 185 38
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy.

References

  1. ^ "Notification of shirt numbers: Crawley Town" (PDF). English Football League. p. 24. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Profile". Fleetwood Town F.C. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Profile". 11v11. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b Swarbrick, Rosie (11 May 2016). "Horley hotshot Nadesan on his way to Fleetwood Town?". Crawley Observer. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Ashley Nadesan: Fleetwood Town sign Horley Town striker". BBC Sport. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Combined Counties Football League 2015–16". Combined Counties Football League. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Combined Counties Football League 2014–15". Combined Counties Football League. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Games played by Ashley Nadesan in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Louis Gray and Ashley Nadesan: Carlisle sign Everton goalkeeper and Fleetwood striker". BBC Sport. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Fleetwood: George Glendon, Chris Neal and Ricardo Kip released". BBC Sport. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Ashley Nadesan: Carlisle United sign Fleetwood striker for second loan spell". BBC Sport. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Ashley Nadesan: Striker joins Crawley Town on three-year deal from Fleetwood". BBC Sport. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  13. ^ Pole, Matt (10 July 2019). "Crawley Town star suffers injury setback". Crawley Observer. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  14. ^ Talbot, Bruce (13 August 2019). "REDS THROUGH IN CARABAO CUP AFTER 3-2 WIN AT WALSALL". Crawley Town F.C. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  15. ^ "REPORT - GRIMSBY TOWN 1-1 CRAWLEY TOWN". Crawley Town F.C. 29 December 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  16. ^ a b Ashley Nadesan at Soccerway. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  17. ^ Beardmore, Michael (10 January 2021). "Crawley crush Leeds in stunning FA Cup upset". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Crawley striker Nadesan signs new two-year deal". BBC Sport.
  19. ^ "Gillingham sign forward Nadesan from Crawley Town" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  20. ^ "James Bree on Southampton's defeat at Gillingham". Southampton FC. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  21. ^ Youlton, Clive (18 May 2016). "In Vardy's footsteps - Horley's Nadesan signs for Fleetwood". Retrieved 30 March 2020.
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