Tony Ford (footballer)

Tony Ford (born c1945) is a former English football player and manager. He played for both of Bristol’s professional clubs during a career curtailed by injury.

Ford started his career with Bristol City in 1961, having joined the club as an apprentice. Predominantly a rightback he made 171 appearances for the first team, during which he scored 10 goals. He moved across the River Avon to Bristol Rovers in 1969, for a fee of £4,000 however he was forced to retire through injury in 1971, having appeared only 28 times for the "Gasheads". He was awarded a benefit match in July of that year, a game between the two Bristol teams which Rovers won 3-1 at Ashton Gate.

Ford subsequently moved into the realm of coaching, his first appointment being with Plymouth Argyle. In 1973, Bristol City coach John Sillett, whom Ford knew from his playing days with the "Robins", was appointed manager of Hereford United and Ford moved to the "Bulls" as his assistant. Sillet left Edgar Street in 1978 and Ford was appointed caretaker manager but was unable to stop the side suffering relegation and so was not offered the position permanently.

Ford’s next port of call was Heart of Midlothian, where he became Bobby Moncur’s assistant. Moncur resigned in 1981 when Wallace Mercer gained executive control of the Edinburgh side and Ford was appointed manager when Mercer failed to convince either Jock Wallace, then at Leicester City, or Dundee United’s Jim McLean to move to Tynecastle. Again though Ford’s managerial tenure was to be brief and he was dismissed after only 5 months of the 1981-82 season, his 24 games in charge including defeats to minnows such as East Stirling and Queens Park.

Ford’s son Mike also played professional football, with Leicester City, Cardiff City and Oxford United amongst others.