Tony Ford (footballer, born 1959)

Tony Ford

Personal information
Full name	Anthony Ford
Date of birth	14 May 1959
Place of birth	Grimsby, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	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)
1999–2001	Rochdale	89	(6)
Total		931	(108)
National team
1989	England B	2
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Anthony "Tony" Ford MBE (born 14 May 1959 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire) is a former English footballer. Through most of his career, Ford was a right-sided midfielder, but in the later years of his career, he was converted to right-back. In a career that spanned 26 years, Ford played no fewer than 931 league matches, which is the all-time record for matches played in the English league by an outfield player. Only goalkeeper Peter Shilton (1005 matches) has played more. Ford is in fact only one of two outfield players to play in English football to have ever passed 1000 games in competitive matches (league and cup) with the other being Graham Alexander.^[1]

Career

Playing career

Ford began his career at his hometown club Grimsby Town, 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, and later joined Stoke in a permanent deal.

Ford spent two and a half years at Stoke, before being transferred to West Bromwich 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 (he has since been passed on that list by John McDermott and Paul Groves).

In 1994, Ford joined Grimsby's arch-rivals Scunthorpe, where he played two seasons. When he was released at the end of the 1995–96 season, it seemed like his career at league level had come to an end. However, after a short spell at non-league side Barrow, he was asked by Steve Parkin, a former teammate at Stoke and WBA, 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. Once again, he appointed Ford as his assistant, and despite now being well past 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^[2] and his final professional appearance came the following month against Torquay United.^[3] He finally retired from playing in November 2001 when he and Parkin took up the same positions at Barnsley understandably feeling himself unequal to Division One football once more. He was sacked along with Parkin some 11 months later but in August 2003 he returned to his old 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 former club Grimsby Town as a scout but was relieved of his duties in May 2011.

Career statistics

• Sourced from The English National Football Archive

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
	Total		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	Division One	17	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	19	2
	1993–94	Division One	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	Division Two	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	7	0
	Total		5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	7	0
Scunthorpe United	1994–95	Division Three	38	2	4	0	2	0	1	0	45	2
	1995–96	Division Three	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	Division Three	27	2	2	1	0	0	1	0	30	3
	1997–98	Division Three	34	3	0	0	2	1	2	0	38	4
	1998–99	Division Three	42	2	2	0	2	0	2	0	48	2
	Total		103	7	4	1	4	1	5	0	116	9
Rochdale	1999–2000	Division Three	34	2	3	0	2	0	4	0	43	2
	2000–01	Division Three	38	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	41	2
	2001–02	Division Three	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	1080	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
• Supporters Player of the Year: 1984, 1985
• Supporters Young Player of the Year: 1976

References

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

1. "Burnley 2–1 Swansea". BBC News. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
2. "Swansea 0–1 Rochdale". BBC Sport. 9 October 2001. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
3. "Rochdale 2–0 Torquay". BBC Sport. 3 November 2001. Retrieved 17 April 2012.

External links

• Tony Ford career statistics at Soccerbase