Ford was a key member of York City's Fourth Division championship campaign in 1984 and had played 426 games for his hometown club spanning eight years when he made the move to Filbert Street.
Bought for £25,000, Ford played on the wing for City but didn't stay at the club for long. Signed in June 1987, he'd moved on to Port Vale by the end of the year as new boss David Pleat looked to build his own squad. He did have the honour of scoring City's first-ever goal in the Full Members Cup, one of three goals in 20 appearances for the Foxes.
At Vale Park Ford enjoyed more success, helping them to the Division Two promotion and went on to play for Walsall, on loan, and Mansfield Town before experiencing Norwegian football with Tromso.
On his return to England, Ford became involved with former club York City as a youth coach before going on to work in sports at York University.