Ashby gone: it's official

Last updated : 14 July 2005 By Simon Head

Ashby: The last of the 'Eggers' leaves the Gills

Ashby, who was looking for a two-year contract, was made a verbal offer, but it appears the player and the club were significantly apart with their expectations and 34-year-old Ashby has opted to look elsewhere for a better deal.

Talking to the official website, Gills manager Neale Cooper said, "Barry was on a very good contract, obviously with the digital deal, and that kind of money couldn't be given to him again. Obviously though, Barry needs to try and get as much as he can because he's 34 and is after a two-year contract.

"I was hoping that he might have come in and trained, at least to let me see what kind of money he was worth. The figures he was looking at initially were still a way above possibly what the chairman was thinking of.

"Barry said he was going to see what else he can find to try and get the kind of money that he was after. It's a players market and if Barry Ashby can get better elsewhere then I'm sure he'll look to take it."

After signing for the club for a tribunal-set £140,000, Ashby became a mainstay in Tony Pulis' promotion-chasing side and Peter Taylor's promotion-clinching side. Along with centre half partners Guy Butters and Adrian Pennock, Ashby was known to Taylor as one of his 'Eggers' - and they provided the base from which Gillingham produced the best season in the club's history.

However, aged 34, Ashby's best years now appear to be behind him - and following Gillingham's relegation from the Championship, the big centre half, who was one of the club's top earners, has had to choose between taking a new contract at a significantly lower wage, or look elsewhere - and it seems he had decided to look elsewhere.

We wish Barry all the best in his future career. He was one of the most popular players at Gillingham - and his contribution to the club will be fondly remembered.