Profiles: Albert & Brian Aspen

Albert Aspen is a contemporary of Bolton Olympic Wrestling club octogenarian John Rigby.

Albert was one of the most successful amateur wrestlers Britain has ever produced. He competed in both the Olympics and Commonwealth Games (winning a bronze) and was also national coach.

His son Brian, a gold medal winner in the 1982 Commonwealth Games, was one of the few UK wrestlers to ever compete in later years with the dominance of the Eastern Europeans.

The second place he achieved in the European Championships is perhaps his most striking achievement – competing as he was against Eastern Block opponents who not only benefited from wrestling being a national sport – but also had state support to train and develop.

Brian had to rely on the volunteers, friends and family connected with the Bolton Olympic Club.

Bolton has been a stronghold of the amateur wrestling movement in the UK and continues to turn out prospects – such as modern heavyweight Mark Cocker.

Both Albert and Brian have made an important contribution to the ongoing efforts to develop amateur wrestling in the UK.

They are also leading examples of the success and history of the Bolton Olympic Wrestling Club, which in turn is part of a history that stretches back long before the modern Olympics to the days when the Lancashire miners wrestled on the Pit Brow for money.

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