Fylde celebrate the 100th 1st XV appearances of Ben Gregory and Tom Carleton at Blaydon on Saturday.
In 2011, three young lads met in Wigan RUFC’s Under 13s squad. One went to the Deanery High School, the other two, plus their younger brothers, attended Standish High School. They developed as very talented young players and when they reached Year 11, they all earned 6th Form scholarships at Kirkham Grammar School.
The name of the Deanery High School student was Ben Gregory, the Standish lads were Tom Carleton and Nick Ashcroft. Nick’s brother Matthew was a couple of years younger and followed in the footsteps of his brother.
Gregory, Carleton and the older Ashcroft quickly impressed and progressed to the KGS 1st XV. The close links between KGS and Fylde had already seen another very influential student, Connor Wilkinson, join the Club and make his 1st XV debut in 2016. The three Wigan/KGS products followed and by the 2017-18 season all were regular starters for Fylde in National One.
Tom Carleton initially was deployed on the wing but gradually developed in the fullback role where his broken field running has proved particularly dangerous. In 99 appearances he has scored 73 tries. When he is in possession of the ball, there’s a buzz amongst spectators who are always expectant of some exceptional break and display of his great pace and trickery. He follows not only in the footsteps of his England and British Lions father, John, but also in the great tradition of explosive back three attackers, reminding everyone of previous Fylde heroes in the last 30 years of Mark Preston, Brendan Hanavan, Nick Royle and Oli Brennand.
Ben Gregory shared the hooking duties with player/coach Alex Loney for a while before becoming the primary wearer of the no 2 shirt. He also has an exceptional record as a try scorer, with mobility, pace and an acute game sense. Previous Head Coach Warren Spragg reckoned that Ben was the best hooker in National Two (North) in 2019-20 before the enforced Covid 19 break. Nick Ashcroft was a regular in the Fylde engine room and became an excellent lineout performer and all round lock forward.
All three progressed to representative honours for Lancashire and England Counties at U’20s level, and in turn skippered the Counties on overseas tours. Lancashire senior honours followed shortly afterwards.
Nick Ashcroft, who has run up some 80 appearances, has moved away from the area following graduation from Lancaster University. He’s succeeded by his younger brother, prop forward Matthew, who is now a fixture in the squad. Meanwhile, Gregory and Carleton have become mainstays of the 1st XV, and Gregory took over the captaincy for the 2021-22 season. Apart from their outstanding talent, perhaps the other most notable characteristic of the duo is their durability. Tom is on an unbroken run of 98 consecutive National League appearances and Ben is on 78, an extraordinary feat when considering the tough regime of National League rugby. Together with Connor Wilkinson before his unfortunate knee injury in August this year, all three players have basically been ever present for three seasons.
Still only 23 years old, Ben Gregory and Tom Carleton have already made a huge impression at Fylde and are popular, crowd pleasing figures around the Woodlands. The Club is incredibly fortunate to have them in the squad and is delighted to be able to pay tribute to them on their 100th appearance in the claret, white and gold.