Astall was born in Horwich, near Bolton, Lancashire. He was playing amateur football for Southampton when he signed professional with Plymouth Argyle in November 1947. He had previously been an unsuccessful triallist at his local side Bolton Wanderers. His league debut came in February 1948at home to Luton Town, and he soon became a regular in the Home Park side, helping Plymouth win the Third Division South title in 1952. That same year he was selected for the England B team. In October 1953 he was signed by Second Division rivals Birmingham City for a fee of £14,000, following his Plymouth wing colleagueAlex Govan to St Andrew's. He had made 194 appearances for Plymouth and scored 43 goals. As a goalscoring outside right, Astall replaced the Scot Jackie Stewart in the Birmingham side and quickly became an important member of a team that won the Second Division title in 1955 and reached the 1956 FA Cup Final, losing 3–1 at Wembley to Manchester City. Full international recognition followed and he scored on his debut for England against Finland on 20 May 1956. He played again six days later against Germany, but this proved to be his final international appearance. He also took part in Birmingham's Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaigns, playing in the 1960 final which the team lost 4–1 on aggregate to Barcelona. At the end of the 1960–61 season, after 271 appearances for Birmingham in which he scored 67 goals, he moved to Torquay United on a free transfer. Astall made his Gulls debut on 19 August 1961, featuring in a 2–1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace, and went on to score 10 goals in 27 league games in a season that saw Torquayrelegated back to the Fourth Divisionthanks to a 4–2 final-day defeat away to Barnsley, Astall scoring one of Torquay's goals. He played only six times the following season before retiring from the professional game. He settled in the Torbay area, working in insurance and coaching local club Upton Vale. In May 2000, the Torquay Herald Express reported that he was living in retirement in the town and was a keen golfer. In later life, he was diagnosed with dementia.
