Nicky Pike: Who Is Ashley Young's Wife?
Nicky Pike is Ashley Young's wife, a private mother who stays out of the media. Marriage, the called-off 2011 wedding, family and his 2026 retirement.
Nicky Pike is the wife of the former England and Manchester United defender Ashley Young. The Manchester Evening News described her in 2015 as his childhood sweetheart, and Young's English Wikipedia page says he has been married to her since June 2015. Nicky keeps out of the public eye: we could not find an interview she has given, and her date of birth has not been published by a reliable outlet, so we cannot give her age.
Young himself has just closed a career. He announced on 30 April 2026 that he would retire at the end of the 2025/26 season, at 40, and Ipswich Town finished second in the Championship that year to win promotion to the Premier League. This article covers what is public about Nicky and the family, the wedding that was called off in 2011, and a dated look at her husband's career.
Who is Nicky Pike?
Nicky Pike is best known as Ashley Young's wife. She is not a public figure in her own right and has no media career that we could source. Older WAG profiles, including our own earlier version of this article, called her an entrepreneur, a socialite or a stay-at-home mother, but none of them cites a source, so we have removed those labels. What can be said is simple: she is Young's long-term partner and, since 2015, his wife, and she has stayed out of the media for the whole of his career.
Nicky Pike's age, birthday and background
- Age: not published. Some biography sites give a birth year, but we found no reliable outlet that confirms it, so we do not print one.
- Birthday and zodiac sign: not published.
- Nationality: English, according to the profiles that cover her, though no reliable outlet spells out her place of birth.
- Parents, siblings, education and job: not made public by the family, and we do not repeat unsourced claims about them.
- Social media: we could not confirm an official public account for her, so we do not link one.
How did Ashley Young and Nicky Pike meet?
Young was born on 9 July 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and came through the Watford academy, which he joined as a boy in 1995. Profiles of the couple describe them as a relationship that began in their teenage years, before his professional career took off. The exact year and the way they met have never been confirmed by either of them, so treat any more precise version you read elsewhere with caution.
The wedding that was called off in 2011
The best-known episode in the couple's story took place in 2011. According to English Wikipedia and the Manchester Evening News, the couple had planned a wedding that year and called it off two days before the ceremony. The Manchester Evening News reported that the planned wedding was to cost £200,000 at The Grove Hotel in Watford, but those figures come from the press, not from the couple. Neither Young nor Nicky gave a public explanation, and we have not repeated the speculation printed about the reasons.
The couple stayed together afterwards, and English Wikipedia lists Young as married to Nicky Pike since June 2015. The Manchester Evening News reported at the time that they married at the Stoke Place hotel in Buckinghamshire, four years after the first wedding was called off, and that his footballer friends Stiliyan Petrov and Fabrice Muamba were among the guests.
Do Ashley Young and Nicky Pike have children?
The only child of the couple named by reputable outlets is their son Tyler, who appears on Young's English Wikipedia page and has followed his father into football. Tyler came through the Arsenal, MK Dons and QPR academies, made his professional debut for Peterborough United in October 2024 and joined Ipswich Town's under-21 side in 2025. In January 2025, before an FA Cup tie between Everton and Peterborough, he told The Times, as quoted by FourFourTwo: "I have always had a No. 1 supporter and that is my mum." According to English Wikipedia, he left Ipswich in the summer of 2026 and has since played non-league football. Biography sites claim the couple have more children, but we found no reputable outlet that confirms how many, and we only publish a child's name when a parent has made it public.
Who is Ashley Young?
Ashley Young is a former English footballer who played as a winger and later mostly at full-back. Born on 9 July 1985, he turned 41 in July 2026. In the autumn of 2026 he is a retired player, having ended a professional career that ran for more than two decades.
Ashley Young career timeline
- 1995 to 2003: Watford youth system.
- 2003 to 2007: Watford first team (98 league appearances, 22 goals). Promotion to the Premier League in 2005/06 through the Championship play-offs.
- January 2007 to 2011: Aston Villa, signed for around £8 million (157 league appearances, 30 goals). PFA Young Player of the Year in 2008/09.
- 2011 to 2020: Manchester United, signed in June 2011 for around £17 million (192 league appearances, 15 goals). Club captain from August 2019.
- 2020 to 2021: Inter Milan (44 league appearances, 5 goals). Serie A champion in 2020/21 under Antonio Conte.
- 2021 to 2023: a second spell at Aston Villa on a free transfer (53 league appearances, 1 goal).
- 2023 to 2025: Everton on a free transfer (63 league appearances, 1 goal). He scored against Wolves in December 2024 aged 39 years and 148 days, which made him the fourth-oldest Premier League goalscorer, according to beIN SPORTS.
- July 2025 to 2026: Ipswich Town on a one-year deal (13 league appearances, 15 in all competitions, per Wikipedia). Ipswich finished second in the Championship.
The appearance figures are those on English Wikipedia as of November 2026, and sources vary slightly, which is why the Ipswich total is given two ways.
Honours
- Manchester United: Premier League (2012/13), FA Cup (2015/16), EFL Cup (2016/17), UEFA Europa League (2016/17), FA Community Shield (2011).
- Inter Milan: Serie A (2020/21).
- Watford: Championship play-off success in 2006.
- Individual: PFA Young Player of the Year (2008/09).
Ashley Young with England
Young won 39 senior caps and scored 7 goals for England between 2007 and 2018, after 10 caps for the under-21s and a bronze medal at the 2007 European Under-21 Championship. He was in the squads for Euro 2012 and the 2018 World Cup, where England reached the semi-finals.
Retirement in 2026
On 30 April 2026 Young confirmed in a social media post that he would retire at the end of the season, saying it had been "some journey that I only dreamt of as a boy", according to beIN SPORTS. He was 40 and had been a professional for 23 years. In his last season at Ipswich he made 13 league appearances, mostly as a substitute, and the club won promotion back to the Premier League by finishing second in the Championship.
Ashley Young quick facts
- Born: 9 July 1985, Stevenage, England.
- Position: winger, later full-back.
- Clubs: Watford, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Inter, Everton, Ipswich Town.
- England: 39 caps, 7 goals (2007 to 2018).
- Status: retired at the end of the 2025/26 season.
- Wife: Nicky Pike, married since June 2015 per English Wikipedia.
- Net worth and salary: we do not print estimates, because the figures on gossip sites are not sourced.
Ashley Young's old Villa and United circles
Because Young spent two spells at Villa and nine years at Old Trafford, his career overlaps with many players whose partners we have profiled. Another former Aston Villa player is Stiliyan Petrov, and you can read about his wife Paulina Petrova. Meanwhile, his United years coincided with Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen.
FAQ
Who is Ashley Young's wife?
Ashley Young's wife is Nicky Pike. English Wikipedia lists them as married since June 2015, and they were together long before that.
How old is Nicky Pike?
Her age is not public. No reliable outlet has published her date of birth, and we do not guess. Ashley Young, by comparison, was born on 9 July 1985 and is 41.
Is Nicky Pike on Instagram?
We could not confirm an official public account in her name. Treat accounts that claim to be hers with caution.
Did Ashley Young cancel his wedding?
Yes. According to English Wikipedia and the Manchester Evening News, he and Nicky called off a wedding planned for 2011 two days before it was due to take place. Neither he nor Nicky has explained why, and they went on to marry in 2015.
Does Ashley Young have children?
Yes. Their son Tyler is also a footballer. Biography sites claim more children, but no reputable outlet we found confirms how many, so we do not give a number.
Is Ashley Young still playing?
No. He announced on 30 April 2026 that he would retire at the end of the 2025/26 season, after a 23-year career, and he finished it at Ipswich Town.
Which clubs did Ashley Young play for?
Watford, Aston Villa (twice), Manchester United, Inter Milan, Everton and Ipswich Town.
What did Ashley Young win?
At Manchester United he won the Premier League, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the Europa League. He also won Serie A with Inter in 2020/21.
Sources: English Wikipedia (Ashley Young), beIN SPORTS (retirement report, 30 April 2026), Manchester Evening News (wedding report, 23 June 2015), FourFourTwo (9 January 2025).
