BC-SOC--West Ham-Ashton Retires, 1st Ld-Writethru,0220

West Ham striker Ashton retires at 26

LONDON (AP) -- West Ham striker Dean Ashton has been forced to retire at the age of 26 after his ankle failed to fully recover from an injury sustained during an England training session.

Ashton missed the whole of the 2006-07 season, but recovered to make 31 appearances in the following campaign.

He broke down again in September 2008 and has not played since due to concerns about his long-term mobility.

The initial injury was suffered in August 2006 in a challenge by Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips -- a day before he was to make his England debut.

Professional Footballers Association chief executive Gordon Taylor hopes that Ashton does not have to take legal action against Wright-Phillips and that compensation can be organized via club or national team insurance.

"Nobody would think that Shaun Wright-Phillips was a malicious player at all," Taylor said. "At the moment we've been speaking to his representatives and the situation is about looking to get proper compensation without discussing any player-v-player action."

West Ham paid 7 million pounds (then $12.4 million) for Ashton in January 2006.

"When a player plays for England, the club informs the FA the amount of cover that they would require for him, and clearly he was a very valuable player," Taylor said.