Three years ago, Ashley Hay was making a name for himself in the senior ranks at Baldock Town, working as a plumber and finding his love for football again.

Fast forward to now and the 20-year-old is a full-time footballer, playing a pivotal role up front with Brentford B.

It’s been a long and at times bumpy journey for the talented forward, one that began with Letchworth Eagles and found him playing at multiple levels of English football.

It is a road that has included the risk of leaving his job to chase his dreams, risk that has paid off in every way imaginable.

“I just feel very fortunate, to be fair. It’s crazy how life works,” said Hay.

“Three years ago, I made my first team debut, I started playing men’s (football)… and then three years later I’m here and we’re doing set piece work with the first team, so it’s just crazy.”

Ashley Hay scored against Slough Town as a trialist in pre-season

As a youngster, Hay found his way to Luton Town’s academy from Letchworth, a club he stayed at until he departed at the age of 14 after not receiving a scholarship.

He joined Hitchin Town briefly before making the move to Baldock with friends, debuting in the first team at the age of 17, plying his trade as a semi-pro footballer.

“I played men’s football there for a good two years and it was really enjoyable, I started loving football again, just scoring every week and just enjoying it,” said Hay.

A quick stop at Biggleswade for the early stages of last season saw him receiving a lot of minutes on the bench, before a seven-day approach from Hitchin changed his course, Hay finishing off the season with his former club.

“I finished the whole season there, that season was very good to be fair. I learnt a lot playing in a good league with a lot of people that have come down from professional leagues,” said Hay.

“It was really enjoyable, I really got on with everyone there, it was a good team spirit.”

Brentford came knocking and asked him to trial, however Hay struggled to believe the Bees were interested in his services.

“It didn’t make sense to me … when I got the message, I thought it was fake,” said Hay.

“Even when I turned up the first day, I thought I was just going to get turned away, it just didn’t seem real to me.

“When I came in the first day it was very nerve-wracking because I’ve never really done trials like that … so I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

Hay had to inform his boss, who was also his former manager at Baldock, that he would need a week off work to trial with Brentford B.

When he was asked to return for pre-season a month later, Hay had to ask for another week off, and then another week, and then another, before eventually leaving his job entirely to dedicate his time to the Bees’ pre-season.

It’s a risk that paid dividends as Hay was rewarded with a contract on deadline day in the summer of this year that runs until January 2024.

“(I'm) enjoying it a lot … playing football every day is a dream come true,” said Hay.

“From where I see it, the sky’s the limit, because obviously what’s happened so far is so unexpected.

“(I'm going to) keep my head down and keep working hard. I feel myself improving every day."