Tony Ford (footballer, born 1959)
| 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 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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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 with not one game played in the top-flight division. 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.
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).
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