Stephen Paul Ford (born 15 August 1965 in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

winger. After being banned from rugby union for an act of professionalism, he was eventually allowed back into the sport and went on to represent the Wales national team. He played club rugby for

Rugby career

Club career

Steve Ford played rugby as a schoolboy representing

Llanrumney High School Llanrumney High School ( cy, Ysgol Uwchradd Llanrhymni) was an English medium co-educational, community secondary school located in the Llanrumney area of Cardiff, Wales. History The school served the communities of Llanrumney, Pentwyn and St M ...

before joining

Rumney RFC Rumney Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union based in Rumney, Wales. Rumney RFC presently compete in the Welsh Rugby Union Division One East league. Rumney were promoted to the Division One East league after finishing second in the Divisio ...

. In April 1985, Ford made his debut for

. Later that year, he had a trial with

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

. He made two appearances for the club as an amateur, scoring a try in a 60–12 win against

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west o ...

in the Yorkshire Cup. He was offered a contract by Leeds, but Ford decided to return to Wales and resume playing for Cardiff. However, the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, ove ...

soon learned of Ford's appearances for Leeds, and banned him from playing rugby union due to the sport's stance on professionalism. During his ban, Ford played several rugby league matches with

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

during the 1985–86 season. At the time, Ford claimed that he had only received expenses for his appearances in rugby league, but admitted many years later that he was paid to play the sport. His ban was eventually lifted, and he began playing for Cardiff again in 1988.

International career

In 1990 he won his first full international cap, facing

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

as part of the

1990 Five Nations Championship The 1990 Five Nations Championship was the 61st series of the Five Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition between the major rugby union national teams in Europe. The tournament consisted of ten matches held between 16 January an ...

. Ford was utilised on the wing, and scored a try on his debut. Despite this Wales lost the match 14-8. Ford was next selected for Wales on their 1990 Summer tour of Namibia. Ford played in both tour Tests against

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

, Wales winning both. After representing Wales against the touring

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less ...

in October 1990, Ford was selected for the

1991 Five Nations Championship The 1991 Five Nations Championship was the 62nd series of the Five Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition between the major Northern Hemisphere rugby union national teams. The tournament consisted of ten matches held between 19 Ja ...

. Ford played in three of the Championship matches; the loss to England at

followed by a second defeat, this time to Scotland in which Ford scored his second and final international try. Ford's final home nations game was a draw with Ireland. Ford's final international was during the 1991 Wales tour of Australia, in which Wales were crushed 63-6 by Australia in Brisbane. Although he never played in any of the matches of the tournament, Ford was part of the Wales team that participated in the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This wa ...

, hosted by England. Despite not representing the Wales team in the years following, he was chosen for the Wales squad for the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

but again failed to be selected for any of the tournament games.

International matches played

Wales * 1991 *

1990 * 1991 * 1990, 1991 * 1990, 1990 * 1991

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Steve 1965 births Living people Rugby union players from Cardiff Rugby union wings Welsh rugby union players Rugby league wingers Welsh rugby league players Rumney RFC players Cardiff RFC players Leeds Rhinos players Salford Red Devils players Wales international rugby union players