Add as preferred source on Google Former West Ham and Manchester United youngster Ashley Fletcher admits that, if he could turn back the clock, he would maybe have mapped out his career slightly differently.
It is a decade now since West Ham lured Fletcher away from Manchester United, paying £1 million for the services of a young, promising centre-forward.
Ten years later, though, it is only now that a 30-year-old Ashley Fletcher is hitting the net on a regular basis. While the Hammers deepened Erling Haaland’s gloom, a well-travelled number nine broke the 20-goal barrier for the first time in his senior career during Blackpool’s 2-1 defeat by Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
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Mavropanos’ performance is the best by a West Ham defender since… ?
Fletcher credits Tangerines boss Ian Evatt for giving him both the freedom and the faith to thrive. Yet, as Blackpool slip three points adrift of safety in the League One relegation zone despite the best efforts of the one-time West Ham United prospect, does he have any regrets about how his career has panned out?
Ashley Fletcher wishes he hadn’t left Middlesbrough following West Ham United stint
Speaking to Sky Sports, Fletcher admits that, despite leaving the Red Devils at the age of 20 and then departing West Ham without scoring a senior goal, it was his decision to swap Middlesbrough for Watford in 2021 that he looks back on with a bit of a wince.
“You have to look at yourself at times and some of the decisions I made, different opportunities that probably weren’t the right ones at the time,” a reflective Fletcher says. “But you live and you learn. You find a place where you feel comfortable, and that has been Blackpool for me.”
“I’ve got no regrets in terms of how my career has gone. It’s important that, when opportunities come, you go for it. At times, it just doesn’t work out. I definitely have to give Blackpool a lot of credit as well, because my stock wasn’t as high when they signed me. I like to think I’ve helped them and helped the lads as well.
“You can’t change the past. There are decisions you look back on and think, ‘Would I have done it differently?’ Leaving Middlesbrough was obviously one of those decisions that I look back on and think wasn’t the wisest,” adds Fletcher, who scored 11 Championship goals for Boro in 2019/20 and then barely got a look-in at Vicarage Road.
“But ultimately, it was a period of my life when I wanted to try something new.”
“Yeah, maybe I should have stayed and built something there, but it wasn’t to be. I’m just really happy with where I am at Blackpool.”
West Ham on verge of National League Cup glory
Fletcher reunited with former West Ham teammate Marcus Browne when Blackpool lost 4-1 at AFC Wimbledon in midweek. Between them, the two in-form forwards have scored 34 goals in 2025/26, albeit not at the level the Hammers envisaged when they were turning heads in the academy.
Speaking of the academy, West Ham face Boreham Wood in the National League Cup final on Tuesday night.
The Under-18s beat Reading in the Premier League Cup in 2024/25. Win at Meadow Park in midweek, and it will be silverware in successive years at youth level.
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