Tony Ford (footballer, born 1959)

For the former Bristol City footballer, see Tony Ford (footballer, born 1944).

Anthony Ford MBE (born 14 May 1959) is an English former footballer. Through most of his career, Ford was a right-sided midfielder, but in later years, he was converted to right-back. In a career that spanned 27 years, across four decades, Ford played 931 league 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^[2] and Graham Alexander.^[3]

Tony Ford
MBE

Personal information
Full name	Anthony Ford
Date of birth	(1959-05-14) 14 May 1959 (age 64)
Place of birth	Grimsby, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)^[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1975–1986	Grimsby Town	355	(55)
1986	→ Sunderland (loan)	9	(1)
1986–1989	Stoke City	112	(13)
1989–1991	West Bromwich Albion	114	(14)
1991–1994	Grimsby Town	68	(3)
1993	→ Bradford City (loan)	5	(0)
1994–1996	Scunthorpe United	76	(9)
1996–1999	Mansfield Town	103	(7)
1999–2002	Rochdale	89	(6)
Total		931	(108)
International career
1989	England B	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Playing career

Ford began his career at his hometown club Grimsby Town when he made his first-team debut as a 16-year-old on 4th October 1975 in an away game against Walsall.^[4] Ford was of mixed heritage (his father was a Black Barbadian) and he was the first Black player to play for the club.^[5] 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, and later joined Stoke in a permanent deal.

Ford spent two and a half years at Stoke, before being transferred to West Bromwich Albion 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.

In 1994, Ford joined Grimsby's arch-rivals Scunthorpe, where he played two seasons. After a short spell at non-league side Barrow, he was asked by Steve Parkin, a former teammate at Stoke and West Bromwich Albion, who had recently been appointed manager at Mansfield, 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'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. 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,^[6] and his final professional appearance came the following month against Torquay United.^[7]

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

Career statistics

Source:^[8]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[A]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Grimsby Town	1975–76	Third Division	15	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	16	0
	1976–77	Third Division	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	8	0
	1977–78	Fourth Division	34	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	36	2
	1978–79	Fourth Division	45	16	1	0	3	0	0	0	49	16
	1979–80	Third Division	37	5	4	0	9	4	0	0	50	9
	1980–81	Second Division	28	4	1	0	1	0	3	1	33	5
	1981–82	Second Division	35	7	3	0	1	0	3	2	42	9
	1982–83	Second Division	37	4	3	1	3	0	3	0	46	5
	1983–84	Second Division	42	8	1	0	4	0	0	0	47	8
	1984–85	Second Division	42	6	3	1	6	1	0	0	51	8
	1985–86	Second Division	34	3	1	0	3	0	2	0	40	3
	Total		355	55	19	2	33	5	11	3	418	65
Sunderland (loan)	1985–86	Second Division	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	1
Stoke City	1986–87	Second Division	41	6	5	0	2	0	1	1	49	7
	1987–88	Second Division	44	7	2	0	4	0	4	0	54	7
	1988–89	Second Division	27	0	2	0	2	0	1	0	32	0
	Total		112	13	9	0	8	0	6	1	135	14
West Bromwich Albion	1988–89	Second Division	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
	1989–90	Second Division	42	8	2	1	3	0	1	0	48	9
	1990–91	Second Division	46	5	1	0	2	0	1	0	50	5
	1991–92	Third Division	15	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	19	0
	Total		114	14	4	1	7	0	3	0	128	15
Grimsby Town	1991–92	Second Division	22	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	1
	1992–93	First Division	17	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	19	2
	1993–94	First Division	29	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	31	0
	Total		68	3	3	0	1	0	0	0	72	3
Bradford City (loan)	1993–94	Second Division	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	7	0
Scunthorpe United	1994–95	Third Division	38	2	4	0	2	0	1	0	45	2
	1995–96	Third Division	38	7	3	1	2	1	3	0	46	9
	Total		76	9	7	1	4	1	4	0	91	11
Mansfield Town	1996–97	Third Division	27	2	2	1	0	0	1	0	30	3
	1997–98	Third Division	34	3	0	0	2	1	2	0	38	4
	1998–99	Third Division	42	2	2	0	2	0	2	0	48	2
	Total		103	7	4	1	4	1	5	0	116	9
Rochdale	1999–2000	Third Division	34	2	3	0	2	0	4	0	43	2
	2000–01	Third Division	38	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	41	2
	2001–02	Third Division	17	2	0	0	2	1	1	0	20	3
	Total		89	6	4	0	6	1	5	0	104	7
Career Total			931	108	50	5	65	8	34	4	1,080	125

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, Football League Group Cup, Football League Trophy and Full Members' Cup.

Honours

Grimsby Town

• Football League Group Cup: 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

References

• Haynes, Keith (2005). The Tony Ford Story. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-2418-1.

1. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
2. Scott McGleish at 44 and 1,000 games: 'I can't see myself giving up soon' | Football | The Guardian
3. "Burnley 2–1 Swansea". BBC News. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
4. https://footballs-black-pioneers.com/grimsby-town-1975-76/
5. Hern, Bill; Gleave, David (2020). Football's Black Pioneers. Leicester: Conker Editions. pp. 168–169. ISBN 9781999900854.
6. "Swansea 0–1 Rochdale". BBC Sport. 9 October 2001. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
7. "Rochdale 2–0 Torquay". BBC Sport. 3 November 2001. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
8. Tony Ford at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

External links

• Tony Ford at Soccerbase