| Ray Harford | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raymond Thomas Harford | |
| Date of birth | June 1, 1945 | |
| Place of birth | Halifax, England | |
| Date of death | August 9, 2003 (aged 58) | |
| Playing position | Centre-half | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1964–1966 1966–1967 1967–1971 1971 1971–1973 1973–1975 |
Charlton Athletic Exeter City Lincoln City Mansfield Town Port Vale Colchester United |
3 (0) 55 (1) 161 (10) 7 (0) 20 (1) 108 (4) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 1984–1986 1987–1990 1990–1991 1995–1996 1997 1997–1998 2000 |
Fulham Luton Town Wimbledon Blackburn Rovers West Bromwich Albion Queens Park Rangers Millwall (caretaker) |
|
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Raymond Thomas Harford (June 1, 1945 — August 9, 2003) was an English footballer, better known for his successes as a coach and manager than as a player. Events 193 - Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is Assassinated 987 - Hugh Capet is elected Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Coach (baseball|Coach (basketball|Coach (ice hockeyIn Sports a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction instruction and training of the operations
Contents |
Playing career
He was born in Halifax but grew up in southern London. Halifax is a large Market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England, with a population of 82056 in the London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. His playing career as a centre-half started at Charlton Athletic in 1960. Charlton Athletic Football Club (also known as The Addicks) is a professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of He played his first senior game in 1966 but soon left for spells at Exeter City, Lincoln City, Mansfield, Port Vale and Colchester, where he became player-coach and then youth coach in 1976. Exeter City Football Club are an English football club based in Exeter, who were members of the Football League from 1920 to 2003 and rejoined Lincoln City FC are an English football team currently playing in Football League Two (the fourth tier of the English football league system Mansfield Town Football Club are an English football club who from the 2008&ndash09 season will compete in the Conference National. Port Vale Football Club are an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. Colchester United Football Club is an English football team who play in League One for the 2008-09 season following confirmation of their relegation on
Managerial career
Fulham
In 1982, Harford was appointed assistant manager at Fulham under Malcolm Macdonald. Fulham Football Club is an English football team based in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is a former English footballer nicknamed "Supermac" famed for scoring goals for Two years later he was promoted to the position of manager, and his first season as a manager was reasonably successful, with the club managing 9th place, 9 points off promotion. At the end of the season, however, it emerged that the club had fallen into severe financial difficulties, forcing the sale of most of the first team. Harford was able to cobble together a side for the next season from free transfers and youth players, but it wasn't enough. The side were relegated by a huge margin, and Harford resigned shortly thereafter.
Luton Town
In the summer of 1986, Luton Town manager David Pleat resigned and was replaced by John Moore. Luton Town Football Club are an English football team based in the town of Luton in Bedfordshire. David Pleat (born January 15, 1945 in Nottingham) is an English former football manager and player who now provides John Moore was an English football player (274 appearances 13 goals and manager who took Luton Town to a club-best seventh place in the original Harford was signed by Luton as assistant manager and helped the club finish seventh in the old First Division. The Football League First Division was the highest division of The Football League between 1993 and 2004 and the highest division of English football overall between At the end of the 1986–87 season, Moore resigned as manager and Harford was promoted as his replacement. It proved to be an impressive decision. In his first season as Luton manager, Harford guided the Kenilworth Road club to a 3–2 win over Arsenal in the League Cup final - the club's first ever major trophy. Kenilworth Road is a Stadium in Luton, England which is home to Luton Town F The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup, is an English football competition But Luton were forbidden to enter the 1988–89 UEFA Cup because the ban on English teams in European competition arising from the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster still had two years to run. The UEFA Cup is a football competition for European club teams organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA. The Heysel Stadium disaster occurred owing to Football hooliganism in which a retaining wall of the Heysel Stadium in Brussels collapsed on May 29 In 1988–89 Luton again reached the League Cup final but surrendered their crown after a last minute goal gave Nottingham Forest a 2-1 win. Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English professional football club based at the City Ground in West Bridgford, a suburb of Nottingham By the following January, Luton were battling against relegation to the Second Division and Harford was sacked – the relegation battle was won by his successor Jim Ryan who remained in charge for 16 months. Jimmy Ryan can refer to different people Jimmy Ryan (baseball, the 19th-century baseball player
Wimbledon
Soon after being sacked as manager of Luton, Harford was recruited by Wimbledon as assistant manager to Bobby Gould. This article refers to the original club from London which existed until 2004 Robert Anthony "Bobby" Gould (born 12 June, 1946 in Coventry) is an English football manager and former player The partnership lasted just five months until July 1990, when Gould was sacked from his post and for the third time in his career Harford was promoted from the position of assistant manager to manager.
In 1990–91, Wimbledon did well to finish seventh in the First Division and there were high hopes that the club could qualify for European competition or win one of the two domestic cups during the 1991–92 season. But Wimbledon made a slow start to the season and Harford resigned in October. He was briefly replaced by Peter Withe, who remained in charge until the end of the season before he was replaced by Joe Kinnear. Peter Withe (born 30 August 1951 in Liverpool, Lancashire) is a much-travelled English footballer who played as a Joe Kinnear (born 27 December 1946, in Dublin, County Dublin) is an Irish football manager and former player
In the same month that Harford left Wimbledon, the former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish had been appointed as manager of Second Division Blackburn Rovers who had been out of the top division since 1966. Liverpool Football Club are an English professional Association football club based in Liverpool England. Kenneth Mathieson 'Kenny' Dalglish MBE (born 4 March 1951 in Dalmarnock, Glasgow) is a former Scottish international football Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. Their benefactor Jack Walker was determined to get the Ewood Park side into the new FA Premier League which was due to start in the 1992–93 season. Jack Walker ( 19 May 1929 - 17 August 2000) was an Industrialist from the English town of Blackburn, Lancashire Ewood Park is a football Stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire and has been the home of Blackburn Rovers football club since they The Premier League, colloquially referred to as the Premiership, is an English professional league for football clubs He made Harford an offer to become assistant manager at Blackburn and he accepted it.
Blackburn Rovers
Success as assistant manager
While Harford was assistant manager of Blackburn, he helped Kenny Dalglish in the club's quest for success. In 1992, the club won promotion to the new Premier League via the promotion playoffs. In the new Premier League in 1993, Blackburn finished fourth thanks to a side made up of mostly new players like £3. 3million record signing striker Alan Shearer. Alan Shearer, OBE (born 13 August 1970 is an English retired footballer who played as a Striker in the English Premier League for The following season Blackburn finished runners-up to double winners Manchester United but a consolation for the disappointment came in the form of a UEFA Cup place.
In 1994–95, Blackburn suffered early exits from the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup but their league form was excellent. The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after On the final day of the season, they lost 2–1 to Dalglish's old club Liverpool but their nearest rivals Manchester United were unable to beat West Ham United and the English league championship went to Blackburn Rovers for the first time since 1914. } West Ham United Football Club is an English football club based in Upton Park, London Borough of Newham, East London, who have played
A month after the title success, Kenny Dalglish was promoted to the position of Director of Football and the board made an offer to Harford to fill the manager's seat. "Director of Football" is a term describing a senior management figure at a football club most commonly used in Europe. On arriving at Ewood Park he had vowed never to make a fourth move from the position of assistant manager to manager but went back on his word and accepted the offer.
Frustrating time as manager
1995–96 was a frustrating season for Harford and Blackburn. Chris Sutton and Graeme Le Saux missed a lot of games through injury and Tim Sherwood lost form. Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire) is an English former footballer Graeme Pierre Le Saux (born 17 October 1968 in Jersey) is a retired English footballer who played as a left back, although Timothy "Tim" Sherwood (born 2 February 1969 in St Albans, England) is a former professional footballer who was captain of Blackburn Alan Shearer was still brilliant though, with 31 Premiership goals. Despite an early exit from the UEFA Champions League, Blackburn improved as the season went on. See also List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winners The UEFA Champions League, which evolved from the European Champion Clubs' Cup is a seasonal club Although they never looked like regaining their Premiership title, they were in contention for a UEFA Cup place until the very last game of the season but lost out to Arsenal and finished seventh.
During the summer of 1996, Alan Shearer was sold to Newcastle United for a then world record fee of £15 million. Newcastle United Football Club (also known as The Magpies or The Toon) is an English football club based in Newcastle upon
The 1996–97 season also started badly for Blackburn. They failed to win any of their first 10 games and were knocked out of the League Cup by Division Two Stockport. Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, England. Harford handed in his resignation and was replaced temporarily by coach Tony Parkes, who took charge until the end of the season and guided Rovers to 14th in the final table before Roy Hodgson was appointed as permanent manager. Anthony " Tony " Parkes (born May 5 1949 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire) is an English former professional Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Fulham
West Bromwich Albion
In February 1997, Harford was named as West Bromwich Albion's new manager in place of Alan Buckley. West Bromwich Albion Football Club (also known as West Brom, The Baggies, Albion, The Albion, The Throstles or WBA) are Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951 in Mansfield, England) is an English football Manager. Albion were hovering just above the relegation zone in Division One and Harford did much to keep the club clear of relegation. Despite a promising start to the following season (1997–98), he found it tiring to travel the 100+ miles from his Berkshire home to the Midlands on an almost daily basis, and in December 1997 moved to Division One rivals Queens Park Rangers. Berkshire (ˈbɑːkʃə or /ˈbɑːkʃɪə/ say Baak-shuh/-sheer sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a Home County in the South Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English football club, based in Shepherds Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London
QPR
Queens Park Rangers were struggling in Division One, they had slipped from the Premiership in 1996 after 13 consecutive seasons of top division football. Harford was appointed as successor to Stewart Houston and was hopeful of getting the club back into the Premiership. At the end of the 1997–98 season the Loftus Road club avoided relegation at the expense of Manchester City, Stoke City and Reading but the club's directors and supporters expected more. Loftus Road is also a nickname of the Bulgarian FC Spartak Plovdiv ground the Todor Diev Stadium. TalkManchester City FC before changing verbs to singular --> Manchester City Football Club is an English professional football club Stoke City Football Club is a football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Reading Football Club are an Association football club based in the English town of Reading, in Berkshire. And after a poor start to the 1998–99 season, Harford was sacked in September and replaced by Gerry Francis. Gerald Charles James Francis (born Chiswick, 6 December 1951) is a football coach
Millwall
In the summer of 1999, Harford made a return to football as first team coach under then Millwall manager Keith Stevens. Millwall Football Club are an English professional football team based at The New Den, referred to by fans as The Den in Bermondsey, Keith Henry "Rhino" Stevens (born 21 June 1964) is an English former professional footballer Millwall had been in Division Two since 1996 and the club's directors were desperate to win promotion. Stevens was young and inexperienced, and by September 2000 the Millwall board had decided they wanted a more experienced manager so they terminated his contract. Harford was appointed manager on a temporary basis and it seemed possible that he might be given the job permanently. But that fifth promotion from within never happened and Mark McGhee was given the job instead. Mark Edward McGhee (born 25 May 1957 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a former professional footballer and current manager of Scottish club Harford remained on the club's coaching staff and was crucial in Millwall's Division Two championship that season which ended a five-year exile from the upper tier of the English league.
In 2001–02, Millwall finished fourth in Division One and qualified for the promotion playoffs. Everyone at the club was hopeful that a second successive promotion could be achieved but those hopes were ended in a semi-final defeat by eventual winners Birmingham City. Birmingham City Football Club is an English Professional football club based in the city of Birmingham.
Retirement and Death
In October 2002, the 57-year-old Harford was diagnosed with lung cancer and spent much of the season away from his job at Millwall receiving treatment for his illness. Lung cancer is a Disease of uncontrolled Cell growth in tissues of the Lung.
On 9 August 2003, Harford died at the age of 58 while he was still officially a member of the Millwall coaching staff under Mark McGhee. Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. [1] His funeral was held in All Saints Church, Banstead, Surrey, with many members of the football community in attendance. Banstead is a Town in Surrey, England, on the border with Greater London. Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties.
References
- ^ "Ray Harford dies", BBC Sport, 2003-08-09. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus Retrieved on 2007-10-19. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal.
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