Iain Hesford (4 March 1960 – 18 November 2014) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for teams including

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 ...

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

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 ...

and

South China South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is ...

Early career

Hesford began his career at

, where he played more than 200 games and won seven

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the England Under-21 team. When he made his debut, against

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 ...

on 20 August 1977, aged 17, he became the youngest goalkeeper ever to play for Blackpool in a League game. As he ran out for the second half, he offended the ''Latics'' support by flashing them a "V" sign. In 1983, he was signed by

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 ...

, but didn't play a single game for the Owls. In 1986, he moved to

, where he played for two and a half seasons, before he moved to

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 ...

in December 1988, in a deal that saw

Tony Norman Anthony Joseph Norman (born 24 February 1958) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Hull City, Sunderland and Huddersfield Town. He holds the record for consecutive appearances for Hull City, playing 226 cons ...

move in the opposite direction. He was part of the Hull side that were relegated from the old Division 2 in 1991. He left the club, whereupon he signed for Maidstone United, who were also struggling at the time. He scored the winner in a 3–2 home win for Maidstone against

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

on a windy day in 1991, with a massive drop-kick from his own penalty area.

Career in Hong Kong

Hesford's career in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

started in July 1992 when he joined

. He played for the club for 4 years before he moved to Sing Tao in 1996–97 season and later

in 1997–98. During his time at

, the club captured 5 trophies including the

Hong Kong Senior Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the football knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the fourth oldest football tournament in Asia. Traditionally, only teams that play in the Hong K ...

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 ...

and

the league ''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

championship. He was elected as the best foreign player in the league in 1992. He was also in the HKFDL Team of the Year for three seasons (1992–93, 1993–94 and 1994–95). While at Eastern, he went 827 minutes (over ten games) without conceding a goal, setting a HKFDL record before Loh Wai Chi scored for South China in a second round match. He played for Hong Kong XI ('Hong Kong Golden Select') against England in a friendly which the visitors won 1–0. He left Hong Kong in 1998 and started his career as a coach in England. He ran a hotel in Littleborough, near

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England.

Death

On 20 November 2014, the body of Hesford was discovered. The local newspaper, the ''

Blackpool Gazette The ''Blackpool Gazette'' (locally marketed as simply ''The Gazette'') is an English daily newspaper based in Blackpool, Lancashire. Published every day except Sunday, it covers the towns and communities of the Fylde coast. It was founded as '' ...

'', noted a "suspected heart attack."

References

External links

HKFA website
(in Chinese) 聯賽不失球紀錄的保持者─希福特 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hesford, Iain 1960 births 2014 deaths Sportspeople from Ndola Zambian people of British descent Zambian people of English descent Zambian emigrants to the United Kingdom White Zambian people Sing Tao SC players Blackpool F.C. players England men's under-21 international footballers English expatriate men's footballers English men's footballers English people of Zambian descent Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Men's association football goalkeepers Fulham F.C. players Hong Kong First Division League players Hull City A.F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players Notts County F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players South China AA players Eastern Sports Club footballers Sunderland A.F.C. players Sportspeople from Littleborough, Greater Manchester Footballers from Greater Manchester English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen