Simon Gary Ford (born 17 November 1981) is a former 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 le ...
who played as a
defender from 2001 to 2013.
Having started his career with
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
as a youngster, he transferred to
Grimsby Town in 2001. He moved on to
Bristol Rovers and
Redbridge before establishing himself with
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
side
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
where he remained for six years. He moved to
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
in 2010 and was released after two seasons. He returned to
Grimsby Town in the summer of 2012 but only made two appearances and was loaned out for a spell at
AFC Telford United. He has also been capped three times by
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
.
Club career
Charlton Athletic
Ford began his career at
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
under
Alan Curbishley
Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion and has worke ...
and was promoted to the club's first-team squad in the 2000–01 season. But he found his first-team chances at The Valley halted and he was released from the
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
club in summer 2001 having never played a first-team match for the club.
Grimsby Town
After leaving Charlton in 2001, he signed for
Lennie Lawrence's
Grimsby Town before the start of the 2001–02 season. Ford made his professional debut on 21 August 2001 during a 2–1 victory over local rivals
Lincoln City in the first round of the
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
, coming on as a 79th-minute substitute for
Ben Chapman. On 22 December 2001, he made his league debut in the club's
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
0–0 away draw with
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
where he played from the start. The following week on 29 December 2001 Ford scored his 1st goal for Grimsby with a header to give them a 2–1 lead against
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, after
Peter Crouch had put Pompey 1–0 up with the game eventually finishing a 3–1 victory to the
Mariners. Ford would go on to make 16 appearances in all competitions during his first season at
Blundell Park
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...
.
During the 2002–03 season Ford was favoured by new manager
Paul Groves and took his chance in the first team when injury had sidelined new signing
Steve Chettle
Stephen John Chettle (born 27 September 1968) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is director of football at Basford United.
As a player, he was a defender from 1986 to 2005 and was best known for his time a ...
earlier that season. Ford, who regularly partnered
Georges Santos
Georges Santos (born 15 August 1970) is a former professional footballer and club scout for English Premier League side West Ham United.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/georges-santos-9bbb2726
As a player he was a defender and a midfielder in a ca ...
at the back, would go on to make 40 appearances that season. Despite Ford's surge into the first team the club were relegated but his consistent performances had drawn some interest from fellow Division One sides
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
and
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
. But no transfer ever materialised. During the 2003–04 season Ford fell out of contention within the club to the preferred pairing of
Tony Crane
Anthony Steven Crane (born 8 September 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender, midfielder and makeshift centre forward from 1999 to 2009.
He notably played as a professional for Sheffield Wednesday and ...
and
Mike Edwards.
Despite being a valued player only a year before, Ford's contract was not renewed when it expired in summer 2004 and he departed Grimsby in August 2004. He made 84 appearances in all competitions for the club and scored four goals.
Bristol Rovers and Redbridge
Ford quickly joined
Bristol Rovers on a non-contract basis before the start of the 2004–05 season, but manager
Ian Atkins allowed him to leave the club without playing a game only a couple of weeks into his stay.
Shortly after his brief stint in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, Ford signed professional terms for
Conference South
The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...
side
Redbridge who were placed three levels below the last league he played in for Grimsby. Ford played in only one match for the club before he was approached by
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
side
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
who were naturally given permission by Redbridge to talk to the player.
Kilmarnock

He had to initially sign for
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
as an amateur
because he had signed professionally for
Redbridge shortly beforehand.
Ford was paid for commercial and marketing work while playing as an amateur.
On 27 December 2004 Ford scored in the 3–1 victory against
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
on 38 minutes, a left-wing
free-kick from
Garry Hay
Garry Hay (born 7 September 1977 in Irvine, North Ayrshire) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer, who played in over 300 Scottish Premier League games for Kilmarnock F.C., Kilmarnock.
Club career
Hay signed for Kilm ...
found Ford unmarked, he rose to power home his first goal for the club. He then signed as a professional in January 2005.
He had been a regular since arriving in October 2004, but in March 2005 it was stated he had to undergo a
double hernia operation, that will rule him out until the following season.
On 15 October 2005 he scored the opening goal on 7 minutes in the 4–2 defeat at
Hibernian, after
Gordon Greer
Gordon Greer (born 14 December 1980) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Greer played for Clyde, Blackburn Rovers (two spells), Stockport County, Kilmarnock (two spells), Doncaster Rovers, Swindon Town and Br ...
flicked the ball to Ford, goalkeeper
Zbigniew Malkowski had little chance as the header went in from close range. After missing the following two games through injury, on 29 October 2005 he made it 1–1 against
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
when
Kris Boyd's low drive could not be held by goalkeeper
Ryan Esson
Ryan John Esson (born 19 March 1980) is a Scottish former professional football goalkeeper. He is currently a goalkeeping coach for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Esson started his career in 2000, in the Scottish Premier League, as a goalkeepe ...
and Ford headed in the rebound, the game finishing 4–2 to
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
.
Ford damaged his
medial ligament and
cartilage
Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...
in April 2006 and faced over four months on the sidelines, assistant manager
Billy Brown said "It's a major blow for the lad and club. He's been terrific." He was due to have a hip operation in the summer but had to wait until the knee had begun to heal. He eventually returned in October 2006.
Ford went on to make 144 league appearances in a six-year stay with Killie, where he scored six times.
Chesterfield
Ford signed for
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
under freedom of contract in June 2010 and to replace the recently departed
Kevin Austin, in defence, who was released by Chesterfield. On 21 August 2010 he scored the 4th goal on 62 minutes in the 4–0 thrashing of
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 'The ...
,
Danny Whitaker
Daniel Phillip Whitaker (born 14 November 1980) is an English former professional football player and manager who was recently the player-manager of club Macclesfield.
A former Manchester United F.C., Manchester United Manchester United F.C. ...
whipped in a corner and picked out Ford and the defender powered a header into the net.
Ford was part of the
2011–12 side that beat
Swindon Town 2–0 in the
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
final on 25 March 2012, he hit the crossbar on 8 minutes with striker
Jack Lester hitting in the rebound, only to be ruled out for offside.
He was released by the club at the end of the 2011–12 season.
Return to Grimsby Town
10 seasons on since Grimsby and Ford suffered relegation from what is now the
Football League Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...
, Ford returned to
Grimsby Town on 28 July 2012 on a trial basis and played in the club's pre-season friendly against
Barton Town Old Boys. Three days later he signed a one-year contract. Despite dropping out of the professional game for the first time in his career, Ford struggled to hold down a place back at Blundell Park. On 27 February 2013, after failing to make a single appearance all season and failing to dislodge the likes of Shaun Pearson,
Ian Miller Ian Miller may refer to:
*Ian Miller (Australian footballer) (born 1949), Australian rules footballer
* Ian Miller (footballer, born 1983), English footballer
*Ian Miller (footballer, born 1955), Scottish footballer
*Ian Miller (illustrator) (born ...
and
Nathan Pond
Nathan Louis Pond (born 5 January 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender or defensive midfielder for team Bamber Bridge.
He has previously played for Fleetwood Town over a fifteen-year period, whilst also having spells wi ...
from the first team, Ford was loaned out to fellow Conference side
AFC Telford United until the end of the 2012–13 season.
Ford was recalled to Grimsby on 10 April 2013 after injuries to both Shaun Pearson and Ian Miller. He played 6 times for Telford with the club also being relegated from the
Conference National
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...
during that time. Ford made his second debut for The Mariners in the club's 1–1 draw at
Luton Town on 12 April 2013. Ford played one more game for the club but wasn't used in Town's unsuccessful play-off campaign. He was released on 2 May 2013.
International career
Ford has represented
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
three times against
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
,
St Vincent and
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
Personal life
He is former
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
winger
Mark Walters
Mark Everton Walters (born 2 June 1964) is an English former professional footballer who made 600 league appearances between 1981 and 2002.
A midfielder, Walters played top-flight football for Aston Villa, Liverpool and Southampton in Englan ...
's
nephew
In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...
.
Honours
;
Grimsby Town
*Supporters Young Player of the Year: 2002
;
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
*
Football League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
Champions, Promoted:
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
Champions:
2011–12
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Simon
1981 births
Living people
Association football defenders
Jamaican footballers
Jamaica international footballers
Charlton Athletic F.C. players
Grimsby Town F.C. players
Bristol Rovers F.C. players
Redbridge F.C. players
Kilmarnock F.C. players
Chesterfield F.C. players
AFC Telford United players
English Football League players
Scottish Premier League players
National League (English football) players
Black British sportspeople
English people of Jamaican descent
Footballers from Upton Park, London