Frank Lord (13 March 1936 – June 2005) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a centre forward. He made 354 appearances in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

for

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, Plymouth Argyle,

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and Chesterfield, and scored 172 goals.

Life and career

Lord was born in

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. ...

, near

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. He began his career with

, where he scored 54 goals in 122 league games during eight seasons with the club. His goal-ratio improved with

, who he joined in 1961. Lord spent a little over two seasons with Crewe and scored 68 league goals in 108 appearances; in total, he made 117 appearances, scoring 73 times. He scored four

hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

in 1961–62 and eight in total to set a new club record. He signed with Plymouth Argyle in November 1963 and was the club's leading goalscorer in his first season. Lord was also joint-leading scorer in 1964–65 with

Mike Trebilcock Michael Trebilcock (born 29 November 1944) is an English retired professional footballer. He played primarily as a winger and is most famous for scoring twice in the 1966 FA Cup Final for Everton, becoming the first black player to score in a ...

. In February 1966, he moved to

after scoring 23 times in 69 league games for Argyle and six more in seven cup ties. His form at Stockport, 18 goals in 27 league appearances, prompted a move to

later that year. He scored once in 10 league games for Blackburn before joining Chesterfield in 1967. He returned to Plymouth Argyle in October 1967 to work as a player-coach under the management of

Billy Bingham William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager. As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, whom he played for between 1948 and 1950. Making the move ...

, having scored six times in 12 league games for Chesterfield. While his main role was coaching, Lord did play occasionally when others were injured. He scored two more goals in nine league and cup games in 1968–69 before retiring from playing. Lord went on to coach at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and Preston North End, where he also served as caretaker manager in 1973. He managed

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

in South Africa for several years, where he won the Manager of the Year award in 1977, before becoming

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

manager in December 1979; a position he held until September 1982. Lord was the head coach of the Malaysia national team from 1983 to 1985, and applied unsuccessfully for the vacant manager's position at Plymouth Argyle. In 1994, he became assistant manager at Lincoln City and then joined

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

as a football co-ordinator. Lord was briefly caretaker manager at Wigan in 1995. He returned to South Africa and settled in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, where he later worked as a scout for Manchester United. Lord died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at his home in June 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Frank 1936 births 2005 deaths People from Chadderton English footballers Men's association football forwards Rochdale A.F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Preston North End F.C. managers Hereford United F.C. managers Malaysia national football team managers Wigan Athletic F.C. managers Lincoln City F.C. non-playing staff Plymouth Argyle F.C. non-playing staff