Anthony Ford (born 14 May 1959) 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 le ...

. Through most of his career, Ford was a right-sided midfielder, but in later years, he was converted to

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. In a career that spanned 27 years, across four decades, Ford played 931

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

matches, which is the all-time record for matches played in the English league by an outfield player. He is one of three outfield players in English football to have ever passed 1,000 games in competitive matches (including league, cup and for Graham Alexander also national team games), the others being Scott McGleish and Graham Alexander.

Career

Playing career

Ford began his career at his hometown club

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

, where he made his first-team debut as a 16-year-old in October 1975. He spent 11 years at Blundell Park, where he made his name as one of the most talented players outside the top division. In 1986, he left Grimsby. He first had a short loan spell at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, and later joined

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

in a permanent deal. Ford spent two and a half years at Stoke, before being transferred to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

midway through the 1988–89 season. After three years at The Hawthorns, he rejoined Grimsby in late 1991. His second spell at Blundell Park lasted three seasons, and he left the club at the end of the 1993–94 season, having played 423 league games for the club, which at the time placed him second on the club's career appearance list behind

Keith Jobling Keith Jobling (26 March 1934 – 20 September 2020) was an English professional footballer born in Grimsby who made 450 appearances in the Football League as a centre half for Grimsby Town. Until overtaken by John McDermott in 2000, Jobling was ...

. In 1994, Ford joined Grimsby's arch-rivals

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

, where he played two seasons. After a short spell at non-league side Barrow, he was asked by

Steve Parkin Stephen John Parkin (born 7 November 1965) is an English former professional footballer and manager, who is assistant manager at Wrexham. He played for Mansfield Town, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion and has been manager of Barnsley, Mansf ...

, a former teammate at Stoke and West Bromwich Albion, who had recently been appointed manager at

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

, to become his assistant. This allowed Ford to continue his playing career, and in early 1999, he played his 825th career league game, breaking

Terry Paine Terence Lionel Paine (born 23 March 1939) is an English retired footballer. Originally from Winchester, Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made over 800 appearances (a club record) in 18 seasons with the club. H ...

's record for career appearances by an outfield player.

Coaching career

In the summer of 1999, Parkin resigned as Mansfield manager to take a similar job at

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 ...

. He again appointed Ford as his assistant, and, aged 40, Ford continued to play regularly. The final goal of his career was the winner in a 1–0 win at Swansea City on 9 October 2001, and his final professional appearance came the following month against Torquay United. He retired from playing in November 2001 when he and Parkin took up the same positions at Barnsley. Both were sacked by the club eleven months later, but in August 2003 he returned to his former role at Rochdale under new manager

Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, Wa ...

. He kept his job when Buckley made way for Parkin on 31 December 2003, but was sacked along with the latter three years later. He went on to work for his former club

as a scout, but was relieved of his duties in May 2011.

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Anglo-Scottish Cup The Anglo-Scottish Cup was a tournament arranged for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues during the summer for several years during the 1970s. It was created in 1975 as a new incarnation of the Texaco Cup, with a similar format t ...

Football League Group Cup The Football League Group Cup was a short-lived football competition which first took place during the 1981–82 season. For English clubs it was a replacement for the Anglo-Scottish Cup, which had been discontinued due to the withdrawal of Scot ...

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

and

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

Honours

; Grimsby Town *

: 1982 *Supporters Player of the Year: 1984, 1985 *Supporters Young Player of the Year: 1976

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Tony 1959 births Living people Footballers from Grimsby English footballers England B international footballers English Football League players Grimsby Town F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. non-playing staff Grimsby Town F.C. non-playing staff Members of the Order of the British Empire Association football midfielders