Jason Beckford

Manchester City

An England U16 international, Beckford began his career at Manchester City in 1987–88, who were then a Second Division side under the stewardship of Mel Machin. Beckford signed as an apprentice at age 16, turned professional at age 17, and made his first-team debut against Middlesbrough. City won promotion as the division's runners-up in 1988–89, and went on to finish 14th in the First Division in 1989–90 under new boss Howard Kendall. Towards the end of the 1990–91 season, new manager Peter Reid allowed Beckford to drop down a division to play four games on loan at Don Mackay's Blackburn Rovers. After returning from Ewood Park, he found himself out of the first-team picture at Maine Road. John Rudge – who had sold his brother Darren a few months earlier – brought Beckford on loan to Port Vale in September as cover for the injured Keith Houchen. He claimed a goal in a 2–1 win over Grimsby Town at Blundell Park on 12 October, before leaving Vale Park after five Second Division appearances.

Birmingham City

He moved on to Birmingham City in the 1991–92 season for a £150,000 fee. His Blues career was blighted by a serious knee injury for 20 months, which kept him out of manager Terry Cooper's first-team plans. He scored the "Blues" consolation goal on his debut in a 2–1 defeat to Stoke City at the Victoria Ground on 4 January. He started two league games as Birmingham won promotion as runners-up of the Third Division. He started three games at…

Beckford arrived at Mossley after coaching at Manchester City and the Bolton Wanderers' Academy side. He was appointed assistant manager in June 2002 and, following Ally Pickering's sudden departure in July 2003 he was appointed team manager. He led the "Lilywhites" to second place in the North West Counties League in 2003–04, which was enough to secure a place in the Northern Premier League. A seventh-place finish in 2004–05 saw Mossley miss out on the Division One play-offs by a three-point margin, before they won the league in 2005–06. However, they could not survive in the Premier Division, and Beckford left the club after relegation in 2006–07. After leaving this post in April 2007, he returned to Bolton in 2008 as part of the club's restructured youth academy, and also worked as the under-16 coach alongside Steve Morgan at Oldham Athletic. In August 2012, he moved to Canada to work as Newmarket Soccer Club's technical director. He was later Technical Director at Kleinberg Nobleton SC and Vaughan SC. In March 2022, he was appointed as head coach of League1 Ontario club Simcoe County Rovers. He was named the league's Coach of the Year. He departed the club at the end of 2023, after leading Rovers to the league title that season with victory over Scrosoppi in the play-off final.

As a player

As a manager

His parents, Dudley and Valdene, were from Jamaica. His brother, Darren Beckford, is a former professional footballer. His son Ethan Beckford has also played professional football.