Andrew Carl Ford (born 4 May 1954) is an English

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 ...

manager and former professional player.

Playing career

Ford was born in

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and close to the Exmoor National Park. T ...

. He played for

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

and Gillingham between 1972 and 1982. He also played for non-league

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

Managerial career

Ford's first management job was at Gravesend and Northfleet (now known as Ebbsfleet United). He guided the team to the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

title in 2001–02 and several

Kent Senior Cup The Kent Senior Cup is an English football knock-out competition played between senior clubs in the county of Kent. It is administered by the Kent County Football Association (KCFA). History Now known as the Kent Senior Cup it was originall ...

successes, and then kept the side in the Conference Premier for several seasons before his resignation in 2005. He is the club's most successful manager. Shortly after leaving Gravesend, Ford became assistant manager of

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in EFL League One, the third level of the Engli ...

, spending a year at the club before leaving in 2006. In January 2008 he was appointed manager of

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

, a position he kept until his resignation in October 2009. A year later in October 2010 Ford took over at

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 88 teams in fo ...

basement side Maidstone United. However, he could not lift the Stones from the foot of the table and he resigned on 15 March 2011 with his side bottom of the league and eight points adrift from safety.

References

External links

* 1954 births Living people People from Minehead English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Gillingham F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Southend United F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Dartford F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Welling United F.C. managers Maidstone United F.C. managers {{england-footy-defender-1950s-stub