Mike A. Ford (born 18 November 1965) is an English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

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 ...

, and former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer. He was named as the director of rugby for Dallas Griffins in Major League Rugby, which is planned to begin in 2020. In March 2019 he joined Leicester Tigers as a temporary assistant coach for the remainder of the 2018–2019

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

season.

Background

Ford was born in

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 ...

, England. He was a pupil at

Saddleworth School Saddleworth School is a community secondary school in Diggle, England, for students in years 7–11. History First built in 1911 as a junior and infants school, Saddleworth School was expanded to a secondary school sometime between 1960 ...

Uppermill Uppermill is a village in the civil parish of Saddleworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies on the River Tame in a valley amongst the South Pennines wit ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, from 1976 to 1981, where he was taught, and coached by

Phil Larder Philip John Larder MBE (born 20 March 1945), is an English rugby league and rugby union coach, and former player in both codes. He coached England and Great Britain national teams in rugby league, and in rugby union he was defence coach of En ...

. Larder later recommended Ford to Ireland when Larder was defence coach of England. Three of his sons play rugby union –

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

plays for Leicester Tigers, and England, and

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

for

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...

. His youngest son Jacob was the attack coach for Loughborough Students before being named as head coach for Westcliff Rugby Club In August 2019.

Playing career

Ford played

as a , playing for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

( Heritage № 795),

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

(two spells),

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

( Heritage № 691) (two spells),

South Queensland Crushers The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, a ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

( Heritage No. 933),

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

( Heritage No. 1097) and Bramley. He won 10 caps for Great Britain. Ford played in

's 14–8 victory over

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the tour match on Sunday 6 October 1985. Ford played in

's 12–28 defeat by Wigan in the 1992 Challenge Cup Final. Ford is a Castleford Tigers Hall Of Fame inductee. Ford moved to South Queensland Crushers but played just 15 games there. Ford made his début for

on Wednesday 1 November 1995, and he played his last match for Warrington on Monday 8 April 1996, he made his début for

during the 1996 season, and he played his last match for Wakefield Trinity during the 1997 season.

Coaching career

In 1999, Ford joined Bramley as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

, and joined Oldham in a similar role a year later. He retired from playing in 2001 after guiding Oldham to the championship Grand Final. Whilst at Oldham, he started coaching rugby union at Dukinfield RUFC for 5 seasons, winning a cup and two promotions. Ford left Oldham to take over as Defensive Co-ordinator of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in January 2002 and stayed for 4 seasons, winning a triple crown and helping guide Ireland to 3rd in the world rankings. In September 2004 he started working as a defence and skills coach at Saracens, before taking over as head coach in August 2005. He served as a defence coach for the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

midweek team on their 2005 tour to New Zealand, remaining undefeated in 7 games (the test side lost the series 3–0). He left his position with Ireland in September 2005. In May 2006 Ford became defence coach of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, part of the coaching team that guided England to the 2007 World Cup Final. With Ford as defence coach England conceded the fewest points in the 2009 Six Nations (70) and the fewest tries in the 2010 Six Nations (5), and the fewest tries in the pool stages of the 2011 World Cup. Deciding not to seek a renewal of his England contract, Ford joined the coaching staff at Bath Rugby. He became head coach at Bath in May 2013 and guided them to a Champions Cup spot and an Amlin Challenge Cup final. In 2014/15 Bath finished 2nd in the Premiership and lost in the Premiership Final to Saracens. Ford was awarded the Aviva Premiership Director of Rugby of the Year award in 2015 while his son George won Player of the Year. He left Bath in May 2016 after they had finished 9th in the league. Ford joined Toulon as head coach in October 2016 but left at the end of the 2016/17 season. He then announced his move to the Dallas Griffins. Shortly after he joined Leicester Tigers where he remained until the conclusion of the 2020–21 season.

References

https://www.echo-news.co.uk/sport/17822004.ford-named-new-head-coach-westcliff/

External links

Mike Ford at mikeford.info
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at thecastlefordtigers
*(archived by web.archive.org
England RU profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Mike 1965 births Living people Bath Rugby head coaches Bramley R.L.F.C. coaches Bramley RLFC players Castleford Tigers players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English rugby union coaches Great Britain national rugby league team players Leicester Tigers coaches Leigh Centurions players Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Oldham South Queensland Crushers players Sportspeople from Oldham Wakefield Trinity players Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors players