Richard Asa Hartford (born 24 October 1950) is a Scottish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. He started his professional career with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. His early progress led to a proposed transfer to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in November 1971, but this collapsed when a medical examination discovered a heart condition. Hartford instead moved to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in 1974. He helped City win the 1976 League Cup Final. After a brief spell with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, Hartford moved to Everton in 1979 and then had a second spell with

. After playing for Fort Lauderdale Sun, Hartford joined

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. His shot resulted in the only goal of the 1985 League Cup Final. Hartford was also a regular in the Scotland national team, earning 50 caps between 1972 and 1982. He was selected for the Scotland squads in the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

World Cups. Towards the end of his playing career, Hartford became a coach. He was the player/manager of

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

and

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

. Since retiring as a player, Hartford has worked in a variety of coaching and scouting roles.

Club career

Hartford first played for Drumchapel Amateurs in Glasgow, but began his professional career at

in 1967. During his time with West Brom, the team won the

1968 FA Cup Final The 1968 FA Cup final was the 87th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 18 May 1968 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between West Bromwich Albion and Everton. West Brom won 1–0 after extra time. Jeff Astle scored the winning goal, thus ...

(although he did not play in the final), were beaten FA Cup semi-finalists in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and reached the League Cup final in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. A proposed transfer to

Don Revie Donald George Revie (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an English footballer and manager. He is best known for managing Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, winning the Football League First Division twice and the FA Cup once, before being the Eng ...

in November 1971 was cancelled, when the Leeds doctor found that Hartford had a hole-in-the-heart condition during a pre-transfer medical examination. He was eventually transfer listed by then West Brom coach

Don Howe Donald Howe (12 October 1935 – 23 December 2015) was an English football player, coach, manager and pundit. As a right back Howe featured for clubs West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal together with the England national football team in his pla ...

, alongside favourites Len Cantello and

Jeff Astle Jeffrey Astle (13 May 1942 – 19 January 2002) was an English professional footballer who played the majority of his career as a centre-forward for West Bromwich Albion. Nicknamed "the King" by the club's fans, he played 361 games for them an ...

, in April 1974. Hartford moved on to

for £210,000, making his debut for City in a 4–0 victory against

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

. He helped City win the 1976 League Cup Final. At the beginning of the 1979–80 season he was transferred to

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

(to replace

Archie Gemmill Archibald Gemmill (born 24 March 1947) is a Scottish former footballer. During his career, he won the European Cup and three English league titles, and captained his national side. Gemmill scored the third Scotland goal in a 3–2 win again ...

) for £500,000, only to be sold on to Everton for £400,000 after just three games with Forest. In October 1981 John Bond took him back to Manchester City for £375,000. His second stint with City was less successful, as he suffered an ankle injury and the club were relegated in 1983. Hartford left City in 1984 and signed for American club Fort Lauderdale Sun. He returned to English football soon afterwards with

. In the 1985 League Cup Final, Hartford's shot was deflected by Sunderland's

Gordon Chisholm Gordon William Chisholm (born 8 April 1960 in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional football former player and manager. Chisholm played as a central defender for Sunderland, Hibernian, Dundee and Partick Thistle. After retiring as a player, Chis ...

for the only goal of the match. They were relegated in the same season. He then had stints with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

, and then took up coaching/managerial roles with

and

International career

Hartford made his full international debut for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 26 April 1972, in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

with

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Hartford made six appearances for Scotland during 1972, but was not selected again until October 1975. He became a regular in the international side in 1977, as Scotland defeated

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

to qualify for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

Brian Glanville Brian Lester Glanville (24 September 1931 – 16 May 2025) was an English football writer and novelist. He was described by ''The Times'' as "the doyen of football writers—arguably the finest football writer of his—or any other—generation" ...

, in his frequently updated ''The Story of the World Cup'', wrote "The Scots had an abundance of fine midfield players at a time when most other countries looked for them desperately;

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a British football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in ...

, Don Masson, Asa Hartford, Archie Gemmill,

Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenn ...

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

". Hartford played in all Scotland games in Argentina. His side lost 3–1 to Peru, drew 1–1 with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and defeated eventual runners-up

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

3–2, which meant that

Ally MacLeod Alistair Reid MacLeod (26 February 1931 – 1 February 2004) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He is perhaps best known for his time as the Scotland national football team manager, including their appearance at the 1978 ...

's team exited the competition after the first round. Hartford's international career came to an end after the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 in th ...

, where he recorded his 50th and final cap for Scotland in the game against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. This appearance secured Hartford a place on the national team's roll of honour, as the 8th player to make 50 appearances for Scotland. Hartford did not appear in any other matches at the 1982 World Cup, as Scotland were again eliminated after the group stage.

Coaching and managerial career

Hartford was player/manager at

(1987–89) and

(1990–91) before his retirement as a player. He subsequently joined ex-international teammates

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

(at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

), Joe Jordan and

(at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

where he spent four matches as caretaker manager) in various coaching/managerial roles. He became assistant manager at Manchester City in 1995, working with Alan Ball. He was caretaker manager in September 1996, after Ball left, but he did not express any interest in becoming manager on a permanent basis. He stayed with City for several years as their reserve team coach, until

Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...

brought in his own coaching staff in May 2005. Hartford became a first team coach with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in December 2005, but left the club in May 2006. On 29 June 2007 it was announced that he had been appointed assistant manager at Macclesfield Town but both he and Ian Brightwell were sacked in February 2008 to be replaced by Keith Alexander. In April 2008 he was given a role with

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

coaching the junior teams and the reserves, but was made redundant from this role in October 2011. He subsequently worked for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

as a scout.

Career statistics

As a player

*Sourced from :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup (, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) was a European football competition. The competition was ...

Anglo-Scottish Cup The Anglo-Scottish Cup was a tournament arranged for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues during the summer for several years during the 1970s. It was created in 1975 as a new incarnation of the Texaco Cup, with a similar format ...

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

Football League play-offs The English Football League (EFL) play-offs are a series of play-offs, play-off matches contested by four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic Promotion and relegation, promotion places in the second, third and four ...

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It w ...

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

Watney Cup The Watney Mann Invitation Cup (normally referred to as simply the Watney Cup) was a short-lived English football tournament held in the early 1970s. It was held before the start of the season, and was contested by the teams that had scored the ...

As a manager

Honours

Manchester City *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 1975–76 Norwich City *Football League Cup: 1984–85 Individual * Scotland national football team roll of honour: 1982 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1986–87 Third Division

Notes

References

; Specific ; General *Glanville, Brian – World Cup. The Story of the, Faber & Faber, London, 2005.

External links

*
Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartford, Asa 1950 births Living people Footballers from Clydebank Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Everton F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. managers Fort Lauderdale Sun players Blackburn Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff 1978 FIFA World Cup players 1982 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players People with congenital heart defects Scottish expatriate men's footballers United Soccer League (1984–85) players English Football League managers Drumchapel Amateur F.C. players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's under-23 international footballers Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Scottish football managers Association football coaches