Mick Harford

Born in Sunderland, County Durham, Harford joined Lincoln City in 1977. He was at Lincoln for just over three years before he moved on to Newcastle United in a £180,000 transfer. After just 19 appearances and eight months at Newcastle, Harford moved on again, this time to Bristol City for £160,000 in August 1981. Seven months later, Harford had impressed enough to gain a move to First Division club Birmingham City for £100,000 in March 1982. 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. Harford was part of the Luton side that won the League Cup in 1988 against Arsenal. He also scored in the final the following year as Luton went down 3–1 to Nottingham Forest. He is a fan favourite of Luton supporters and is often voted as the club's best ever player, such is the regard he is held in at Kenilworth Road. He was a key player at Luton until his transfer to Derby County in January 1990 for £450,000. Even after his transfer, Harford inadvertently managed to help the Hatters in their fight against relegation, as in the last game of the season Derby County played Luton Town, with Luton needing a win to stay up. Harford managed to head the ball from outside his own six-yard box, past England…

Harford made one appearance for the England national B team, in which he scored England's second goal on 14 October 1987 in a 2–0 win over Malta in a friendly. He was capped twice for England at senior level, both of his appearances coming in 1988. His first came on 17 February in a goalless friendly draw with Israel. His second came on 14 September 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.

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. Harford was to be offered his job back, but refused to work under the new board. After the new Luton owners were forced out by supporters, Harford returned to the club in a joint role as Director of Football, with responsibility for player recruitment, as well as first-team coach. Harford helped new manager Mike Newell to a 10th place finish, and his value was proved by then Nottingham Forest manager Joe Kinnear's attempts to make him his assistant manager at Forest. Harford initially rejected the move but in November 2004, despite the contrasting fortunes both sides were displaying – with Forest fighting relegation in the Championship and Luton leading League One – Harford moved onto the City Ground. 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…

As a player

Luton Town

Football League Cup: 1987–88

As a manager

Luton Town

EFL League One: 2018–19 Football League Trophy: 2008–09 Individual

EFL League One Manager of the Month: March 2019