Tony Ford (footballer, Born 1959)
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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 lea ...
. 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 player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
. 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 * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...
matches, which is the all-time record for matches played in the English league by an outfield player. He is one of five 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 Scott McGleish (born February 10, 1974) is a Scottish footballer who plays for Leverstock Green, in addition to serving as an assistant manager. In a career spanning 31 years across four decades, McGleish has made over 900 league appearances. H ...
,
Graham Alexander Graham Alexander (born 10 October 1971) is a professional football coach and former player who manages EFL League One club Bradford City. In a lengthy playing career, Alexander represented Scunthorpe United, Luton Town, Preston North End an ...
,
Jamie Cureton Jamie Cureton (born 28 August 1975) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a striker; he is currently employed as the player-manager of Cambridge City. He began his career at Norwich City in 1994, and after the club's relega ...
,
Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...
and
Neil Redfearn Neil David Redfearn (born 20 June 1965) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Farsley Celtic. Redfearn, a midfielder, played 790 matches in the Football League, the sixth highest total of all time, ...
.


Career


Playing career

Ford began his career at his hometown club
Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...
when he made his first-team debut as a 16-year-old on 4th October 1975 in an away game against Walsall. Ford was of mixed heritage (his father was a Black Barbadian) and he was the first Black player to play for the club. 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 status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
, and later joined
Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...
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 (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
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 who made 450 appearances in the Football League as a centre half for Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football ...
. In 1994, Ford joined Grimsby's arch-rivals
Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...
, 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 football manager and former player who played as a defender. As of 2021, he serves as the assistant manager at Wrexham. He played for Mansfield Town, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion ...
, 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 the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...
, 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 former professional footballer. Originally from Winchester, Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made a club-record 808 appearances across 18 seasons. He playe ...
'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 town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
. 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, ...
. 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
Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...
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 ...
,
Football League Group Cup The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier League ...
,
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
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 *
Football League Group Cup The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier League ...
: 1982 * Third Division: 1979–80 * Fourth Division promotion: 1978–79 *Supporters Player of the Year: 1984, 1985 *Supporters Young Player of the Year: 1976


See also

*
List of men's footballers with the most official appearances In association football, 51 players have played at least 1,000 official matches at all age levels. Regarding B teams and reserve teams, appearances for such teams are only included if made in the primary football pyramid and not in reserve divi ...


References

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Tony 1959 births Living people Footballers from Grimsby English men's footballers England men's 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 Men's association football midfielders