Ashleigh is a local lad who is a former student of our club partner, John Madejski Academy’s Football Performance Programme, where he skippered the team to a 4-2 victory against Thomas Telford School in Shropshire in the English Schools’ Football Association (ESFA) Under-18s final in May 2012. On top of that, they also captured the Youth Conference Football League title, the Tactic Under-19 League and the Tactic League Cup Final in the same season.

Ashleigh has also previously played for the Reading FC Academy and had trials with Manchester United. He has also won numerous caps for England Schoolboys and was part of the squad which won the 2011/12 Centenary Shield.

Plying his trade at non-league, Ashleigh joins the Cityzens with a wealth of experience that will really help us push on.

He’s previously plied his trade at Step 2, having played in the National League South with Hayes & Yeading and Wealdstone.

Closer to home Ashleigh has plied his trade at Step 3 & 4, with spells at Beaconsfield Town, Bracknell Town & Marlow.

His most recent spell was with our friends at Basingstoke Town having returned to the Hampshire side for the 2023/24 Season.

Ashleigh is something of a club legend in RG21, as during his first spell with ‘Stoke between 2016-18 he was part of Terry Brown’s side that beat AFC Bournemouth in the 2016-17 Hampshire Senior Cup Final in a penalty shootout at St. Mary’s Stadium.

In a recent interview , newly promoted Assistant Manager Dave Tarpey, who is a legend at Maidenhead United & would’ve faced our newest addition during his spells at Hayes & Yeading and Wealdstone, told CityTV:

“The amount of the players that come from Reading, but go elsewhere to play elsewhere locally at Step 3, Step 4, they’re the players that we want to bring back into Reading and help this club get to where we want to be.”

We’re very excited to welcome a player of Ashleigh’s calibre to the Rivermoor.

As Simon Johnson and his management team look to implement a winning culture here in RG30, Ashleigh is a player that has experienced promotion & cup wins and we can’t wait to see him in Blue & White.

We spoke to First Team Manager, Simon Johnson following Ashleigh joining the club and here’s what he had to say:

“We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Ashleigh Artwell to Reading City FC. He’s a dynamic player with proven quality and experience, and we believe he’ll add real value to our squad both on and off the pitch. Ashleigh’s work ethic and football intelligence align perfectly with the culture we’re building here, and we’re excited to see the impact he’ll make this season. We have been open with wanting to attract the best talent in Reading back to the club and this signing shows that. I’m really looking forward to working with Ash.”