Career
Ford played for a number of clubs, including Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Millwall Athletic and Carlisle United. lieutenant was at Carlisle that he began his coaching career. He also became a part-time Staff Coach with the Football Association, where besides being a course instructor, he additionally coached the England B team and Under-23 side.
This prompted Rovers" closest rivals, Bristol City to appointing him as their manager in 1960, He remained in charge of City until 1967 when he moved to Swindon Town for the first time as a coaching assistant.
The teams performance the following year led to the board signing Dave Mackay with a view to him taking on management, Mackay refused to usurp Ford and remained a player until Ford"s eventual dismissal on 1 November 1971. He subsequently spent a number of years as Chief Scout and Youth team coach at Oxford United, where he developed a thriving conveyor belt of talented teenage players.