Jack Anthony Sitford (born 28 January 1940) is an English 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 lea ...

who played as a forward or full back 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

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

Life and career

Sitford was born in

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest and the highest town in the High Weald AONB, High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is located south-west of Royal Tunbridge ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, in 1940, and joined

's ground staff as a teenager. He turned professional in March 1959, and made his first-team debut in October 1960, in a League Cup tie away to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. He made most of his 24 first-team appearances the following season, as well as scoring his second senior goal. In February 1962, he put his side ahead after 15 seconds against Second Division leaders

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. The ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

'' was unimpressed: "In 15 seconds Brighton were a goal up. There was nothing special about their down-the-centre approach or about the shot which scored, except that it was hit unexpectedly and found the net just inside the upright to Slater's left", going on to point out that "Brighton consisted of 10 defenders and a centre-forward and apart from Sitford's goal he had done nothing." Brighton lost 3-1, and Sitford was one of many players to leave the club at the end of the season. He spent just over a year with Gravesend & Northfleet, during which he scored the goal that took his team through to the fourth round proper of the

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 ...

, eliminating Third Division club Carlisle United on their own ground. He followed that with nearly six years at another Southern League club,

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 ...

, where he was Player of the Season for 1967–68. Sitford returned to Gravesend & Northfleet in 1969, and helped them finish third in 1970–71 to gain promotion to the Premier Division. Sitford took over as manager in 1974, and led the team to the Southern League Division One South title in 1974–75 and won the Southern League Cup in 1978. The team's performances in the Southern League Premier Division were good enough to secure admission to the newly formed

Alliance Premier League The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South. The National League ...

, in which they finished fifth in its inaugural season. He left the club in 1980. He had a spell as manager of Welling United before beginning a long association with

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

-based club Corinthian, where his roles included team manager, director of football and groundsman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sitford, Tony 1940 births Living people People from Crowborough English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football defenders Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Dartford F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English football managers Ebbsfleet United F.C. managers Welling United F.C. managers Southern Football League managers National League (English football) managers