Ray Harford

He was born in Halifax. He grew up in south London. He started his playing career as a centre-half at Charlton Athletic as an amateur in May 1961, turning professional at Frank Hill's Second Division side in May 1964. He joined Exeter City for a fee of £750 in January 1966 following a recommendation to the club trainer Jock Basford, who was at Charlton when Harford joined them from school. He made his debut in a 5–2 defeat to Peterborough United at St James Park and missed just one Third Division game in the remainder of the 1965–66 season. He played in 38 league matches throughout the 1966–67 season, scoring one goal against Bradford Park Avenue. In July 1967, he signed with Lincoln City, then in the Fourth Division and led by Ron Gray. The "Imps" missed out on promotion by five points in 1968–69 and finished eighth in 1969–70, before dropping down to the re-election zone under Bert Loxley in 1970–71. Harford had played nearly 200 games in four years at Sincil Bank. In June 1971, he secured a move to Third Division Mansfield Town, quickly followed by a move to league rivals Port Vale in December 1971, whose manager Gordon Lee paid Mansfield £5,000 for his services. He was a regular for the rest of the season but fell out of favour in August 1972. In January 1973, he was loaned out to Jim Smith's Colchester United, before the deal was made permanent the next month for a price of £1,750. The Layer Road side finished in the Football League's re-election zone in 1972–73, with…

Fulham

In 1982, Harford was appointed assistant manager at Fulham under Malcolm Macdonald, helping the side finish fourth in the Second Division a year after promotion – one place short of promotion to the First Division. In April 1984, he was promoted to the position of manager. His first full season as a manager was reasonably successful, with the club managing a ninth-place finish, nine points off promotion. At the end of the season, however, 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 afterwards.

Luton Town

In the summer of 1986, Luton Town manager David Pleat resigned and was replaced by John Moore. Harford was signed by Luton as assistant manager and helped the club finish seventh in the old First Division. 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. 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. They also…

Playing statistics

Managerial statistics

as a player with Colchester United

Football League Fourth Division promotion: 1973–74 Colchester United F.C. Player of the Year: 1974 as manager of Luton Town

League Cup: 1988; runner-up: 1989