Mick Harford
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Michael Gordon Harford | ||
Date of birth | 12 February 1959 | ||
Place of birth | Sunderland, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1] | ||
Position(s) |
Striker, Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Luton Town (Chief recruitment officer) | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1977–1980 | Lincoln City | 115 | (41) |
1980–1981 | Newcastle United | 19 | (4) |
1981–1982 | Bristol City | 30 | (11) |
1982–1984 | Birmingham City | 92 | (25) |
1984–1990 | Luton Town | 139 | (57) |
1990–1991 | Derby County | 58 | (15) |
1991–1992 | Luton Town | 29 | (12) |
1992–1993 | Chelsea | 28 | (9) |
1993 | Sunderland | 11 | (2) |
1993–1994 | Coventry City | 1 | (1) |
1994–1998 | Wimbledon | 60 | (9) |
Total | 582 | (186) | |
International career | |||
1988 | England | 2 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
2004–2005 | Nottingham Forest (caretaker) | ||
2005 | Rotherham United | ||
2007 | Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) | ||
2008–2009 | Luton Town | ||
2010 | Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) | ||
2019 | Luton Town | ||
2022 | Luton Town (caretaker) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Michael Gordon Harford (born 12 February 1959) is an English
Harford began his career in 1977 with Lincoln City, later moving to Newcastle United and Bristol City. He moved to First Division side Birmingham City in 1982 and thereafter spent 16 seasons playing in the top division of English football for a number of clubs including Luton, Derby County, Chelsea, hometown club Sunderland, Coventry City and Wimbledon. During his time at Luton, Harford was capped twice by England. In total, Harford's transfer fees over his playing career amounted to over £2.25 million.
As well as his non-playing roles at Luton, Harford was manager of Rotherham United in 2005 and has been caretaker manager of both Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers. He has also held assistant manager positions at Colchester United, MK Dons and Millwall, and coaching roles at Wimbledon and Swindon Town.
Club career
Born in
Harford continued to impress at Birmingham and in December 1984, then Luton Town manager David Pleat added Harford to his side for a £250,000 fee. In his time at Luton, Harford earned himself two England caps, making his international debut against Israel in February 1988. He also featured against Denmark in a September 1988 fixture.[2]
Harford was part of the Luton side that won the
United manager
Following Luton's relegation, Harford moved on again, this time to
Harford lasted just four months at Sunderland before moving to
In August 1994, Harford made his last transfer as a player, joining Joe Kinnear's Wimbledon side for £50,000. Harford would go on to make 60 appearances for the Dons, many in midfield, and scored his last professional goal at the age of 38 years and 34 days against West Ham United in 1997,[8] before he retired and moved into a coaching role at Selhurst Park.
International career
Harford was capped twice for England at senior level. Both of his appearances came in 1988. His first came on 17 February 1988 in a goalless friendly draw with Israel. His second came on 14 September 1988 in a 1–0 friendly win over Denmark, but he failed to get onto the scoresheet. He was a Luton Town player at this time.[9]
Coaching and managerial career
Making his move into coaching with Wimbledon, Harford developed his skills before following his old manager Joe Kinnear back to Luton Town following Luton's relegation to Division Three in 2001. In his role as first-team coach, Harford helped mastermind the successful season of 2001–02, which saw Luton storm to promotion back to Division Two. Following the 2002–03 season, the club was sold to a new consortium, and Harford and Kinnear were then surprisingly sacked.[10] Harford was to be offered his job back, but refused to work under the new board.[11]
After the new Luton owners were forced out by supporters,
Kinnear was to last only a few more weeks at Forest before a poor run of form forced him to leave the club. Harford was then appointed caretaker manager, and he performed admirably despite the problems at the club. Gary Megson was then appointed full-time manager in January 2005 and Harford subsequently left the club.
Out of work for only a short while, Harford teamed up with
Harford then joined his former Derby County teammate Geraint Williams at Colchester United in the summer of 2006, becoming the club's assistant manager.[17] Harford was linked with another return to Kenilworth Road following the sacking of Mike Newell in March 2007, but the job instead went to Kevin Blackwell. Harford left Colchester to become assistant manager at Queens Park Rangers in June 2007,[18] before becoming caretaker after the departure of John Gregory.[19] Harford left QPR after the appointment of Luigi De Canio.[20]
In January 2008, Harford was unveiled as the new manager of struggling and cash-strapped Luton Town until the end of the season. He committed to stay at Luton despite the club being docked 30 points in the break before the 2008–09 season.[21]
Harford led Luton Town to victory in the
In December 2009, Harford became assistant manager of QPR for a second time.[25] After the resignation of Paul Hart, Harford stepped up to take charge of first team affairs at QPR. He lasted until 1 March 2010 when he was replaced by Neil Warnock.
On 17 May 2012, Harford was appointed as assistant manager to Karl Robinson at Milton Keynes Dons.[26] He left just over a year later to re-join Millwall as assistant manager.[27][28] He later became Millwall's Head of Scouting before being replaced by Terry Bullivant in July 2015.[29]
In January 2016, Harford made a return to Luton Town as chief recruitment officer with responsibility for scouting.[30] Following Luton manager Nathan Jones' departure to Stoke City in January 2019, Harford was appointed as the club's caretaker manager.[31] After five wins in his first six league games in charge, putting the club six points clear at the top of the League One table, Harford's appointment was extended until the end of the 2018–19 season.[32] After guiding Luton to the League One title, Harford was awarded the League One Manager of the Year Award for 2019 by the League Managers Association.[33]
Following Graeme Jones's departure from the club by mutual consent in April 2020, Harford was once again appointed as temporary interim boss at Luton Town but due to the suspension of football due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Nathan Jones' return to the club, Harford did not manage any games.[34]
In July 2021, it was revealed by Luton Town that Harford would be stepping away from duties at the club as he was fighting Prostate cancer and would begin radiotherapy treatment in August.[35] On 7 January 2022, the club announced that Harford would return to the dugout that weekend after completing his course of radiotherapy.[36]
In November 2022, following the departure of Nathan Jones to Southampton, Harford was re-appointed caretaker manager.[37]
Career statistics
Club | Season | League | |
---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | ||
Lincoln City | 1977–78
|
27 | 9 |
1978–79
|
31 | 6 | |
1979–80
|
36 | 16 | |
1980–81
|
21 | 10 | |
Total | 115 | 55 | |
Newcastle United | 1980–81
|
19 | 4 |
Bristol City | 1981–82
|
30 | 11 |
Birmingham City | 1981–82
|
12 | 9 |
1982–83
|
29 | 6 | |
1983–84
|
39 | 8 | |
1984–85
|
12 | 2 | |
Total | 92 | 25 | |
Luton Town | 1984–85
|
22 | 16 |
1985–86
|
37 | 22 | |
1986–87
|
18 | 4 | |
1987–88
|
25 | 9 | |
1988–89
|
33 | 7 | |
1989–90
|
4 | 0 | |
Total | 139 | 57 | |
Derby County | 1989–90
|
16 | 4 |
1990–91
|
36 | 8 | |
1991–92
|
6 | 3 | |
Total | 58 | 15 | |
Luton Town | 1991–92
|
29 | 12 |
Chelsea | 1992–93 | 28 | 9 |
Sunderland
|
1992–93
|
11 | 2 |
Coventry City | 1993–94 | 1 | 1 |
Wimbledon | 1994–95 | 27 | 6 |
1995–96 | 21 | 2 | |
1996–97 | 13 | 1 | |
1997–98 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 60 | 9 | |
Career total | 582 | 186 |
Managerial statistics
- As of match played 12 November 2022
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (January 2020) |
Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
Nottingham Forest (caretaker) | 16 December 2004 | 1 January 2005 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 33.33 | |
Rotherham United | 7 April 2005 | 10 December 2005 | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 16.67 | |
Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) | 1 October 2007 | 29 October 2007 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 40.00 | |
Luton Town | 16 January 2008 | 1 October 2009 | 91 | 25 | 29 | 37 | 27.47 | |
Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) | 14 January 2010 | 1 March 2010 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12.50 | |
Luton Town | 10 January 2019 | 7 May 2019 | 21 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 57.14 | |
Luton Town | 10 November 2022 | 17 November 2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | |
Career total | 162 | 47 | 50 | 65 | 29.01 | — |
Honours
As a player
Luton Town
- 1987–88
As a manager
Luton Town
Individual
- EFL League One Manager of the Month: March 2019[40]
References
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- ^ Naylor, Davey. "Mick Harford". Englandstats.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ "Luton's cult heroes". BBC Sport. 4 September 2004. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ Katwala, Amit (27 February 2017). "12 footballers who scored (or threatened) deliberate own goals – and why". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ "Ferguson: 21 that got away". Manchester Evening News. 8 November 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ Bingham, Jerry (15 August 1992). "Football: Chelsea hit by Henry". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ "Coventry City – 1993/94". FootballSquads. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ Tyler, Martin (4 November 2009). "Red records". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ "Sorry, the page was not found". Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- ^ Harrison, Lindsay (24 May 2003). "Kinnear parts company with Luton". The Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ "Newell plans to reinstate Hatter Harford". ESPN. 24 June 2003. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ "Gurney loses control of Luton". BBC Sport. 14 July 2003. Archived from the original on 26 December 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "Survival is success for long-suffering Luton". Guardian. 9 August 2003. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ "Harford joins King as assistant". BBC Sport. 21 February 2005. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Harford named as Rotherham boss". BBC Sport. 7 April 2005. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Rotherham United axe boss Harford". BBC Sport. 10 December 2005. Archived from the original on 12 December 2005. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Harford is new U's assistant boss". BBC Sport. 7 August 2006. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Harford named QPR assistant boss". BBC Sport. 21 June 2007. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Gregory sacked as manager of QPR". BBC Sport. 1 October 2007. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Former Napoli boss takes QPR role". BBC Sport. 29 October 2007. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ Lee West (9 July 2008). "Luton boss Mick Harford commits his future to the club". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
- ^ "Luton 3–2 Scunthorpe (aet)". BBC. 5 April 2009. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
- ^ "Luton 0–0 Chesterfield". BBC. 13 April 2009. Archived from the original on 15 April 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ "Harford parts company with Luton". BBC Sport. 1 October 2009. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
- ^ "Football – Paul Hart becomes the new QPR manager". BBC News. 17 December 2009. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ "Ian Wright & Mick Harford join MK Dons coaching staff". BBC Sport. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 20 May 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ "Assistant manager Mick Harford leaves Dons". Milton Keynes Citizen. 11 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ "Mick Harford". Millwall F.C. 10 April 2014. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ "Harford axed as Bullivant becomes chief scout". South London Today. 15 July 2015. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- ^ "Mick Harford returns to Kenilworth Road". Dunstable Today. 19 January 2016. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
- ^ "Mick Harford takes charge of Luton Town for Sunderland game". Sky Sports. 10 January 2019. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ "Luton Town: Mick Harford to remain manager for rest of season". BBC Sport. 12 February 2019. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
- ^ "Mick Harford". League Managers Association. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
- ^ "Graeme Jones leaves Luton by mutual consent". Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ "A special message from Mick Harford..." www.lutontown.co.uk. 19 July 2021. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ^ "Mick Harford back in the dugout on Sunday...with Alan Sheehan alongside him!". www.lutontown.co.uk. 7 January 2022. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ^ "Nathan Jones: Southampton appoint Luton boss as new manager". BBC Sport. 10 November 2022. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ "Mick Harford". Sporting Heroes. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
- ^ Fletcher, Paul (5 April 2009). "Luton 3–2 Scunthorpe (aet)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
- ^ "Sky Bet League One: Manager and Player of the Month winners". EFL. 12 April 2019. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2022.