Gary Ford (born 8 February 1961) is an English former

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 on the right-wing. He made 435 appearances in all competitions for

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

, scoring 64 goals, between 1979 and 1987 – a tally beaten by only four York City players. He then moved on to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

via

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He played on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, before signing with

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

in 1991. Two years later he joined Telford United, before heading to Norway with

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag is a Norwegian professional football club founded in 1920, based in the city of Tromsø. They play their home games at Alfheim Stadion. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Tromsø have won the Norwegian Cup twice, in 1986 and 19 ...

and

Harstad IL Harstad Idrettslag is a Norwegian sports club from Harstad, Troms. It has association football, futsal and nordic skiing sections. The club formerly had sections for track and field, skiing and speed skating, but this was discontinued in 1987. T ...

, before returning to England with

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

in 1995.

Career

York City

Ford started playing with small York based team, Leeman United, and then turned professional with

at 18-years-of-age in February 1979 following a two year apprenticeship. The "Minstermen" were a mid-table Fourth Division team in 1978–79, but were only three points above the re-election zone in 1979–80. They finished bottom of the Football League in 1980–81, leading to Barry Lyons's departure as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

, before rising to 17th place in 1981–82. Following the arrival of new boss Denis Smith, York posted a seventh-place finish in 1982–83, lying just three places and four points outside the

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

places. They then ran away with the Fourth Division title in 1983–84, racking up 101 points and a goal difference ratio of +57. They finished eighth in the Third Division in 1984–85 and seventh in 1985–86, but only avoided

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in 1986–87 by one place and four points. During his eight years at

Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City football club and York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it is near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway station. York City leased land at B ...

, Ford racked up 435 appearances in league and cup competitions.

Leicester City

After making a £25,000

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

, Ford scored twice in sixteen

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

appearances for the "Foxes" in 1987–88, before losing his place when

Bryan Hamilton Bryan Hamilton (born 21 December 1946) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and manager. He gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1980, and later managed the national team for four years. He later became Techn ...

was replaced as manager by

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as ...

Port Vale

Ford was bought by

in December 1987 for a £35,000 fee, dropping down into the Third Division to join

John Rudge John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

's "Valiants". On 30 January 1988, he helped Vale to beat

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

2–1 in the fourth round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

and described it as "one of the best games of my life". He scored three goals in 28 games in 1987–88. However, he tore an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

in November 1988 and struggled to make the first team until he underwent an operation to correct it in September 1989. He hit eight goals in 28 games in 1988–89, but his injury ruled him out of the play-off final victory over

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

. He recovered by March 1990 and went out to

, making 13 appearances for

John Barnwell John Barnwell (born 24 December 1938) is an English former football player and manager. He was the chief executive of the League Managers Association. Career Arsenal Born in Newcastle, Barnwell first played as an amateur for Whitley Bay and ...

's "Saddlers" as they battled unsuccessfully to avoid finishing last in the Third Division. During the

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

season he was in action fairly frequently, scoring twice in 35 appearances, but was transferred to George Foster's

in March 1991, along with £80,000, in exchange for Kevin Kent.

Later career

After moving on to Telford United in 1993, Ford moved to Norway and plied his trade for

and

. Tromsø finished sixth in the

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

under the stewardship of Harald Aabrekk. Harstad finished fifth in the Norwegian Second Division in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, before winning promotion as Group 6 champions in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

. He then returned to England and the Football League in 1995, making three appearances for

, before he was forced to retire due to injury. He went on to work as a youth

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

at York City and at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Style of play

Ford was a winger known for his intelligent wide play and consistency.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

York City * Football League Fourth Division: 1983–84 Harstad IL * Norwegian Second Division Group 6:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Gary Footballers from York English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders York City F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Telford United F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Norway Tromsø IL players Harstad IL players Hartlepool United F.C. players English Football League players Eliteserien players Association football coaches York City F.C. non-playing staff York University 1961 births Living people