Trevor Ford

This article is about the Welsh footballer. For the British geologist, see Trevor D. Ford. For the American football player, see Trevor Ford (American football).
Trevor Ford
Personal information
Date of birth (1923-10-01)1 October 1923
Place of birth Swansea, Wales
Date of death 29 May 2003(2003-05-29) (aged 79)
Place of death Swansea, Wales
Playing position Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1946–1947 Swansea Town 16 (9)
1947–1950 Aston Villa 120 (60)
1950–1953 Sunderland 108 (67)
1953–1956 Cardiff City 96 (39)
1957–1960 PSV Eindhoven 53 (21)
1960–1961 Newport County 8 (3)
National team
1946–1957 Wales 38 (23)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Trevor Ford (1 October 1923 – 29 May 2003) was a Welsh international centre forward footballer who played for Aston Villa, Cardiff City, Sunderland and Swansea Town. He was born and died in Swansea.

Football career

In October 1950, 27-year-old Ford was the subject of British football transfer record when he signed for 'Bank of England club' Sunderland for £30,000 from Aston Villa. He was a footballing celebrity at the time due to his prolific scoring record. He made 128 appearances for Villa between January 1947 and October 1950 scoring 61 goals.

At Sunderland, he failed to gel on the pitch with team-mate and former record-breaking signing, Len Shackleton. He signed for Cardiff City in December 1953 for £29,500, a club record fee at the time. He spent three years at the club before retiring, aged 33.

Ford still holds the club record for the fastest goal scored, which he set on 23 October 1954 against Charlton Athletic, after just fifteen seconds. After leaving the club in 1956, he revealed in his autobiography that he was involved in an illegal-payments scandal while at Sunderland, which saw the club suffer heavy financial penalties; Ford was temporarily suspended from the game.

Ford decided to come out of retirement, but with the suspension in place, he was forced to look overseas for a club, signing for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. He eventually won his case for reinstatement, returning to The Football League with a brief spell at Newport County.[1] He ended a long career playing his football at Romford. In 1955, Ford also guest appeared for Southern Premier League side Gloucester City. [2]

He was capped 38 times for Wales, becoming their all-time joint aggregate goal scorer with 23 goals. He was not included in the Welsh squad for the 1958 World Cup, following his suspension from the game; his last international appearance had come the previous year.

Cricket career

In 1968, Ford briefly acted as a substitute fielder for Glamorgan in their County Championship match against Nottinghamshire at St. Helen's, Swansea in the match during which Sir Garfield Sobers hit his world record six sixes from an over bowled by Malcolm Nash.

Death

Ford died in his native Swansea in May 2003 at the age of 79.

References

  1. ↑ "Football great Ford dies" BBC Sport Retrieved on 31 October 2008
  2. ↑ Clark, Timothy R.D.; Kujawa, Rob (2009). The Complete Record of Gloucester City AFC 1883–2009. Gloucester: Tiger Timbo Publications. ISBN 978-0-9557425-1-4.
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