- Mick Harford
-
Mick Harford 
Personal information Full name Michael Gordon Harford Date of birth 12 February 1959 Place of birth Sunderland, England Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Playing position Striker Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1977–1980 Lincoln City 115 (41) 1980–1981 Newcastle United 19 (4) 1981–1982 Bristol City 30 (11) 1982–1984 Birmingham City 92 (25) 1984–1990 Luton Town 139 (57) 1990–1991 Derby County 58 (15) 1991–1992 Luton Town 29 (12) 1992–1993 Chelsea 28 (9) 1993 Sunderland 11 (2) 1993–1994 Coventry City 1 (1) 1994–1998 Wimbledon 60 (9) Total 582 (186) National team 1988 England 2 (0) Teams managed 2004–2005 Nottingham Forest (caretaker) 2005 Rotherham United 2007 Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) 2008–2009 Luton Town 2010 Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Michael Gordon "Mick" Harford (born 12 February 1959), is an English former football player turned manager. He is former manager of Rotherham and Luton Town and has also been caretaker manager of Nottingham Forest and QPR. Harford was relieved of his duties at QPR on 1 March 2010 following the appointment of Neil Warnock as manager.
Contents
Playing career
Born in Sunderland, Harford joined Lincoln City in 1977. He was at Lincoln for just over three years before he moved on to Newcastle United in a £180,000 transfer. After just 19 appearances and eight months at Newcastle, Harford moved on again, this time to Bristol City for £160,000 in August 1981. Seven months later, Harford had impressed enough to gain a move to Birmingham City for £100,000 in March 1982.
Harford continued to impress at Birmingham and in December 1984, then Luton Town manager David Pleat added Harford to his side for a £250,000 fee. In his time at Luton, Harford earned himself two England team caps, making his international debut against Israel in February 1988. He also featured against Denmark in a September 1988 fixture.[1]
Harford was part of the side that won the League Cup in 1988 for Luton against Arsenal. He also scored in the Final the following year as Luton went down 3–1 to Nottingham Forest. He is often voted the best ever Luton Town player, such is the regard he is held in at Kenilworth Road. He was a key player at Luton until his transfer to Derby County in January 1990 for £450,000. Even after his transfer, Harford managed to help the Hatters in their fight against relegation, as in the last game of the season Derby County played Luton Town, and Luton needed the win to stay up. Harford managed to head the ball from outside his own box, past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, into his own net as Luton won the game and avoided relegation. Harford then rejoined the Hatters in September 1991 for £325,000, despite competition from Manchester United. Harford managed a credible 12 goals from 29 league games as the Hatters were relegated from what was about to become the Premier League.
United manager Alex Ferguson has since said that he regrets not signing Harford, as he feels that it would have made a positive difference to their form in the 1991-92 season, when a shortage of goals in the second half of the league campaign cost them the title.[2]
Following Luton's relegation, Harford moved on again, this time to Chelsea for £300,000 in August 1992, but despite being the top scorer at the club, Harford was surprisingly sold on again in March 1993, to his hometown club Sunderland in a £250,000 transfer deal.
During his brief spell at Chelsea, he scored the club's first goal in the Premier League, finding the net in the 84th minute of his debut at home to Oldham Athletic, who swiftly responded with an equaliser to force a 1-1 draw.[3]
He lasted just four months at Sunderland, before moving to Coventry City for £200,000 in July 1993. Despite being at the club for 13 months, Harford only made one league appearance, as a substitute, and despite scoring he never featured for the club again. He had been issued with the number 9 shirt with the introduction of squad numbers in the FA Premier League for the 1993–94 season.[4]
In August 1994, Harford made his last move as a player. He joined Joe Kinnear's Wimbledon side, for £50,000. Harford would go on to make 60 appearances for the Dons, many in midfield, before he moved into a coaching role at Selhurst Park.
Coach and manager
Making his move into coaching with Wimbledon, Harford developed his skills before following his old manager Joe Kinnear, back to Luton Town following Luton's relegation to Division 3. Harford helped master-mind the successful promotion season of 2001–02, as Luton stormed to promotion back to the Second Division. Following the 2002–03 season, the club was sold to a new consortium, and Harford and Kinnear were then sacked. Harford was to be offered his job back, but he refused to work under that board.[citation needed]
After the owners were forced out,[citation needed] Harford returned to the club as Director of Football, as well as being the first-team coach. Harford helped new manager Mike Newell to a 10th place finish, and his value was proved by then Nottingham Forest manager Joe Kinnear's attempts to make him his assistant manager at Forest. Harford initially rejected the move but in November 2004, despite the contrast of fortunes both sides were displaying, with Forest fighting relegation in the Championship and Luton running away with the League One title, Harford moved onto the City Ground.
Kinnear was to last only a few more weeks at the club before the club's poor form forced him to leave the club. Harford was then appointed caretaker manager, and he performed admirably despite the problems at the club. Gary Megson was then appointed manager full time in January 2005, and Harford left the club.
Out of work for only a short while, Harford teamed up with Andy King at Swindon Town in February 2005, in a deal that was due to run until the end of the 2004–05 season.[5] In April 2005 however, Harford was appointed the new manager of Rotherham United, whose relegation from the Championship at the end of the 2004–05 season had already been confirmed.[6] Harford had an impressive start to his managerial career, but was sacked in December after a run of 17 games without a win.[7] He was replaced by Alan Knill. Harford finished the season at Millwall, coaching the strikers at the club before their relegation from the Championship at the end of the 2005–06 season.
Harford then joined his former Derby County team-mate Geraint Williams at Colchester United in the summer of 2006, becoming the club's assistant manager.[8] Harford was linked with another return to Kenilworth Road following the sacking of ex-Luton manager Mike Newell, but the job instead went to Kevin Blackwell. He left Colchester to become assistant manager at Queens Park Rangers in June 2007,[9] before becoming caretaker after the departure of John Gregory.[10] Harford left QPR after the appointment of Luigi De Canio.[11]
In January 2008, Harford was unveiled as the new manager of struggling and cash-strapped Luton Town until the end of the season. He committed to stay at Luton despite the club being docked 30 points in the break before the 2008–09 season.[12]
Harford led Luton Town to victory in the Football League Trophy final in a fiercely contested match against Scunthorpe United on 5 April 2009. The tie ended 3–2 after extra time and saw a crowd of 40,000 Luton fans make the short trip down the M1 to Wembley Stadium.[13] However, one week later in the league, the 30-point deduction imposed on the club proved too large an obstacle to overcome, and Harford's Luton succumbed to relegation to the Football Conference.[14] On 1 October, after a disappointing start to life in the Conference, Harford parted company with Luton Town by mutual consent.[15]
In December 2009 Harford became assistant manager of Queens Park Rangers.[16] After the resignation of Paul Hart after 5 games, Harford stepped up to take charge of first team affairs at QPR. He lasted until 1 March 2010 when he was replaced by Neil Warnock.
Statistics
Playing record
League appearances only.[17]
Club Season League Apps Goals Lincoln City 1977–78 27 9 1978–79 31 6 1979–80 36 16 1980–81 21 10 Total 115 41 Newcastle United 1980–81 19 4 Bristol City 1981–82 30 11 Birmingham City 1981–82 12 9 1982–83 29 6 1983–84 39 8 1984–85 12 2 Total 92 25 Luton Town 1984–85 22 16 1985–86 37 22 1986–87 18 4 1987–88 25 9 1988–89 33 7 1989–90 4 0 Total 139 57 Derby County 1989–90 16 4 1990–91 36 8 1991–92 6 3 Total 58 15 Luton Town 1991–92 29 12 Chelsea 1992–93 28 9 Sunderland 1992–93 11 2 Coventry City 1993–94 1 1 Wimbledon 1994–95 27 6 1995–96 21 2 1996–97 13 1 1997–98 0 0 Total 60 9 Career total 582 186 Managerial record
As of 15 April 2010.
Team Nat From To Record G W D L Win % Nottingham Forest (caretaker) 
England16 December 2004 1 January 2005 6 2 1 3 33.33 Rotherham United England7 April 2005 10 December 2005 30 5 9 16 16.66 Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) England1 October 2007 29 October 2007 5 2 2 1 40.00 Luton Town England16 January 2008 1 October 2009 91 25 29 37 27.47 Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) England14 January 2010 1 March 2010 8 1 1 6 12.50 Honours
As a player
Luton Town
- Football League Cup Winner: 1988
As a manager
Luton Town
- Football League Trophy Winner: 2009
References
- ^ "Mick Harford". The FA. http://www.thefa.com/England/MensSeniorTeam/Archive.aspx?p=337244. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Coventry City – 1993/94". FootballSquads. http://www.footballsquads.co.uk/eng/1993-1994/faprem/coventry.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ "Harford joins King as assistant". BBC Sport. 2005-02-21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/swindon_town/4283681.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "Harford named as Rotherham boss". BBC Sport. 2005-04-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rotherham_utd/4419673.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "Rotherham United axe boss Harford". BBC Sport. 2005-12-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rotherham_utd/4517630.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "Harford is new U's assistant boss". BBC Sport. 2006-08-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/colchester_united/5253284.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "Harford named QPR assistant boss". BBC Sport. 2007-06-21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6740659.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "Gregory sacked as manager of QPR". BBC Sport. 2007-10-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/7021776.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "Former Napoli boss takes QPR role". BBC Sport. 2007-10-29. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/7067651.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ Lee West (2008-07-09). "Luton boss Mick Harford commits his future to the club". Daily Mirror. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/07/12/luton-boss-mick-harford-commits-his-future-to-the-club-89520-20640706/. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ "Luton 3–2 Scunthorpe (aet)". BBC. 2009-04-05. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7975143.stm. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ "Luton 0–0 Chesterfield". BBC. 2009-04-13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/7979729.stm. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
- ^ "Harford parts company with Luton". BBC Sport. 2009-10-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/luton_town/8284283.stm. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
- ^ "BBC Sport – Football – Paul Hart becomes the new QPR manager". BBC News. 2009-12-17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/qpr/8417908.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ "Mick Harford". Sporting Heroes. http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=18392. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
Nottingham Forest F.C. – managers Radford (1889–97) · Haslam (1897–1909) · Earp (1909–12) · Masters (1912–25) · Baynes (1925–29) · Hardy (1930–31) · Watson (1931–36) · Wightman (1936–39) · Walker (1939–60) · Beattie (1960–63) · Carey (1963–68) · Gillies (1969–72) · Mackay (1972–73) · Brown (1973–75) · Clough (1975–93) · Clark (1993–96) · Pearce (1996–97) · Bassett (1997–99) · Adams (1999) · Atkinson (1999) · Platt (1999–2001) · Hart (2001–04) · Kinnear (2004) · Harford (2004–05) · Megson (2005–06) · Barlow & McParland (2006) · Calderwood (2006–08) · Pemberton (2008–09) · Davies (2009–11) · McClaren (2011) · Cotterill (2011–)
Rotherham United F.C. – managers Heald (1925–29) · Davies (1929–30) · Heald (1930–33) · Freeman (1934–52) · Smailes (1952–58) · Johnston (1958–62) · Williams (1962–65) · Mansell (1965–67) · Docherty (1967–68) · McAnearney (1968–73) · McGuigan (1973–79) · Porterfield (1979–81) · Hughes (1981–83) · Kerr (1983–85) · Hunter (1985–87) · Breckin (1987) · Cusack (1987–88) · McEwan (1988–91) · Henson (1991–94) · Gemmill and McGovern (1994–96) · Bergara (1996–97) · Moore (1997–2005) · Knill (2005) · Harford (2005) · Knill (2005–07) · Robins (2007–09) · Moore (2009–11) · Scott (2011–)
Queens Park Rangers F.C. – managers Cowan (1913–20) · Howie (1913–20) · Liddell (1920–25) · Hewison (1925–31) · Mitchell (1931–33) · O'Brien (1933–35) · Birrell (1935–39) · Vizard (1939–44) · Mangnall (1944–52) · Taylor (1952–59) · Stock (1959–68) · Dodgin (1968) · Docherty (1968) · Allen (1968–71) · Jago (1971–74) · Anderson (1974) · Sexton (1974–77) · Sibley (1977–78) · Burtenshaw (1978–79) · Docherty (1979–80) · Venables (1980–84) · Mullery (1984) · Sibley (1984–85) · Smith (1985–88) · T. Francis (1988–89) · Howe (1989–91) · G. Francis (1991–1994) · Wilkins (1994–96) · Houston (1996–97) · Hollins (1997) · R. Harford (1997–98) · Dowie (1998) · G. Francis (1998–2001) · Holloway (2001–06) · Waddock (2006) · Gregory (2006–07) · M. Harford (2007) · De Canio (2007–08) · Dowie (2008) · Ainsworth (2008) · Sousa (2008–09) · Ainsworth (2009) · Magilton (2009) · Hart (2009–10) · M. Harford (2010) · Warnock (2010–)
Luton Town F.C. – managers (s) secretary (c) caretakerThompson (1925) · McCartneys (1927–29) · Kays (1929–31) · Wightmans (1931–35) · Liddell (1936–38) · McBain (1938–39) · Martin (1939–47) · Duncan (1947–58) · Owen (1959–60) · Bartram (1960–62) · Crompton (1962) · Harvey (1962–64) · Watkinsc (1964–65) · Martin (1965–66) · Brown (1966–68) · Stock (1968–72) · Haslam (1972–78) · Pleat (1978–86) · Moore (1986–87) · R. Harford (1987–90) · Mancinic (1990) · Ryan (1990–91) · Pleat (1991–95) · Westley (1995) · Lawrence (1995–2000) · Hill (2000) · Fuccillo (2000–01) · Kinnear (2001–03) · Newell (2003–07) · Steinc (2007) · Blackwell (2007–08) · M. Harford (2008–09) · Neilsonc (2009) · Money (2009–2011) · Brabin (2011–present)
Categories:- 1959 births
- Living people
- People from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
- English footballers
- England international footballers
- England B international footballers
- Association football forwards
- Lincoln City F.C. players
- Newcastle United F.C. players
- Bristol City F.C. players
- Birmingham City F.C. players
- Luton Town F.C. players
- Derby County F.C. players
- Chelsea F.C. players
- Sunderland A.F.C. players
- Coventry City F.C. players
- Wimbledon F.C. players
- Rotherham United F.C. managers
- Nottingham Forest F.C. managers
- Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers
- Premier League players
- The Football League players
- English football managers
- Luton Town F.C. managers
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
