James Ford (born 29 September 1982) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the Director of Rugby at Featherstone Rovers in the Betfred Championship, and a former player.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | James Ford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 29 September 1982 Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback, Wing, Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 7 Jul 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing career
As a player Ford played in the Super League for Castleford Tigers and the Widnes Vikings, as a fullback but also played at centre, and on the wing. Ford signed initially for the Featherstone Rovers as a youth in 1998, before moving on to the Sheffield Eagles, and then Castleford in 2008. Ford made his first-grade début whilst playing for the Castleford Tigers in Super League in a 28–6 win away to the Warrington Wolves in 2009's Super League XIV, and he went on to make a total of eight appearances, scoring once. In late 2009, he left the club for Widnes. During his playing and early coaching career, he was a lecturer at Wakefield College.[4]
Coaching
York Knights
After retiring as a player in 2014, Ford took over as head coach at York, and became the club's first ever full-time coach in 2018.[5] In November 2021, he extended his contract with the club until the end of 2024.[6] In October 2022 Ford resigned from York to become assistant coach at Super League club Wakefield Trinity.[7]
Featherstone Rovers
On 16 May 2023 he was announced as the new Director of Rugby at Featherstone Rovers.[8] He was later announced on 18 Aug 2023 to take over as head coach following the sacking of Sean Long.[9]