Gordon Staniforth (born 23 March 1957) 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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former player. He played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

(two separate spells),

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

and Newport County. He also played for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at schoolboy international level. From November 2013 to October 2014 Staniforth was head coach of

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

2 club

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admi ...

Career

Born in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

to Sidney Staniforth and Marian (Hardey), Staniforth attended Greatfield High School. He began his career as an apprentice with

and he signed a professional contract with the club in April 1974. He made his

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

debut in a 1–0 defeat to

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 ...

on 15 April. He joined

on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

in December 1976, making his debut in a 3–2 defeat at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

on 27 December. He signed for York permanently in January 1977 for a fee of £7,500. He scored 33 times in 128 league games, also becoming Clubman of the Year in consecutive seasons, the first player to ever do so. He moved to

in October 1979 for a fee of £120,000. He joined

in March 1983 in a player exchange with

Mike McCartney Peter Michael McCartney (born 7 January 1944), known professionally as Mike McGear, is an English musician and photographer who was a member of the groups the Scaffold and Grimms. He is the younger brother of former Beatle Paul McCartney. ...

plus £5,000 and was part of the side that reached an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

semi-final. In August 1985 he moved to Newport County in a player exchange with Steve Cooper plus £15,000. He returned to York in October 1987 on non-contract terms to end his professional career. He finished his career in

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

with

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

, whom he signed for in July 1988 and departed in September 1989. After retiring, he worked as Community Officer at York from 1989 to December 1996, when he became a North Regional coach for the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sports trade union, with approximately 5,000 current members each seaso ...

. He was appointed youth coach at

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 October 1997 before being sacked in May 1998 after just seven months of a three-year contract. He then worked as co-ordinator of York College's Football Development Centre, alongside former York City goalkeeper Andy Leaning. The centre was awarded FA Charter status in 2005. On 6 November 2013 Staniforth was announced as

club

's new head coach. He would work under

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

Julie Chipchase, who said the appointment was made only after "a rigorous interview and practical coaching assignment". Staniforth led the team to five straight wins in his first five league games in charge and the Belles lost only one league match all season but finished behind

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. On 30 October 2014, he resigned as Head Coach at the club, disgruntled at scything cuts to the club's playing budget.

Personal life

Staniforth's son Tom (1980–2001) was also a footballer. He was a professional with Sheffield Wednesday, but never played a competitive first team game. He was however a first team substitute on six occasions, including games against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He died in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

on the night of 20 August 2001, aged 20, having collapsed in the street after complaining of headaches. On 31 January 2002, a local man—and former York City youth team goalkeeper—was charged with supplying

ecstasy Ecstasy most often refers to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand o ...

to Tom Staniforth. The man was later acquitted on this charge after the prosecution failed to offer any evidence against him. Since his son's death, Gordon Staniforth has been involved in anti-drug campaigning. His daughter,

Lucy Staniforth Lucy Elizabeth Staniforth-Wilson (née Staniforth; born 2 October 1992) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Aston Villa W.F.C., Aston Villa and the England women's n ...

, plays in the FA WSL for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and is also an

international who featured in the

2019 Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

in France. Lucy wears number 37—Tom's old Sheffield Wednesday squad number. After hitting the first goal in Lincoln Ladies' 3–0 WSL win at Doncaster Rovers Belles, Lucy revealed a T-shirt paying tribute to Tom on the tenth anniversary of his death.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staniforth, Gordon 1957 births Living people Footballers from Kingston upon Hull English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Hull City A.F.C. players York City F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players North Ferriby United A.F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. managers