Remarkable Sheffield United fan offers his beloved Blades advice ahead of Man City semi-final

“Win it for my birthday,” the former soldier told The Star, after turning 100 this month. “Let’s make sure we’re coming back here soon because you can definitely win this game.”

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Ashton celebrated that landmark moment on April 5, the day he and his wife celebrated their 76th wedding anniversary. Eleven years before tying the knot with Trudy, he was among the crowd with father John when United faced Arsenal in the 1936 final; the last time they made it all the way through to the final of the competition.

As Paul Heckingbottom’s squad attempt to spring one of the greatest surprises of the modern era by beating Pep Guardiola’s star-studded side, Ashton also has a word of advice for their manager as he applies the finishing touches to the Championship club’s preparations for the tie.

“I’d always have Chris Basham in my team,” continues Ashton, who cites Jimmy Hagan and Tony Currie as his favourites of all-time. “I really like him because he always gives 100 percent, no matter what. And that’s what Sheffield United are famous for.”

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Ashton, who grew up watching some of the greats of the British game, is utterly convinced United can prevail at the national stadium after expressing his admiration for the achievements of Heckingbottom and a group which is also on the brink of securing automatic promotion from the Championship. Despite being forced to contend with a number of problems off the pitch this term, United travel to the capital second in the table with four league matches remaining.

“I’m not saying ‘if’ we beat them,” Ashton insists. “I’m saying ‘when’ because I’m sure we can do it and I definitely think everyone there deserves it with how well they’ve done already this season. I’m very proud of my team and also Sheffield as well. I don’t like it, and it annoys me, when I see places like Leeds getting all the attention and taking things away from here. It’s a wonderful place, full of wonderful people, and we’ve got a group that works really hard. Good players too.”

Ashton knows from personal experience what it takes to beat the odds after serving his country during World War Two. Before enlisting in the army and being shelled near San Marino, he also had a close shave at his old family home in the Steel City.

“We lived in Broomhall and when the bombs were dropping, before I went away, an incendiary one got stuck in a house just up the road,” he says. “My dad was a window cleaner so he had ladders and we climbed up and put a sandbag on it before the fire brigade arrived.”

“I to the desert and Italy,” Ashton adds. “There was one time when we were in the back of a truck and we started being shelled as we moved up the country. I jumped out of the back and laid down near one of the wheels. A bullet went through the tyre and I’ve thought from that moment that someone is looking over me.”

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