Asa Hartford

Asa Hartford
Personal information
Full name Richard Hartford
Date of birth (1950-10-24) 24 October 1950
Place of birth Clydebank, Scotland
Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Norwich City (Scout)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1967–1974 West Bromwich Albion 214 (18)
1974–1979 Manchester City 185 (22)
1979 Nottingham Forest 3 (0)
1979–1981 Everton 81 (6)
1981–1984 Manchester City 75 (7)
1984 Fort Lauderdale Sun ? (?)
1984–1985 Norwich City 28 (2)
1985–1987 Bolton Wanderers 81 (8)
1987–1989 Stockport County 45 (0)
1989 Oldham Athletic 7 (0)
1989–1991 Shrewsbury Town 25 (0)
Total 744 (63)
National team
1972–1982 Scotland 50 (5)
Teams managed
1985–1987 Bolton Wanderers (player-coach)
1987–1989 Stockport County (player-coach)
1989–1991 Shrewsbury Town
1991 Boston United
1993 Stoke City (caretaker manager)
1996–2005 Manchester City (assistant/caretaker manager)
2007–2008 Macclesfield Town (assistant manager)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Richard "Asa" Hartford (born 24 October 1950) is a retired Scottish international midfielder and footballer who became famous for failing a medical examination due to the discovery of a heart condition which put paid to a high-profile transfer to Leeds United in November 1971.

Career

He first played for Drumchapel Amateurs in Glasgow, but began his professional career at West Bromwich Albion in 1967. During his time with West Brom, the team won the FA Cup Final in 1968 (although he did not play in the final), were beaten semi-finalists in 1969 and reached the League Cup final in 1970.

Given his role in the team it was no surprise that he would attract interest from the top clubs but in November 1971 a high-profile transfer to Don Revie's Leeds United was cancelled when a suspected hole in-the-heart condition was found during a pre-transfer medical examination.[1] He was eventually transfer listed by then West Brom coach Don Howe alongside favourites Len Cantello and Jeff Astle in April 1974 and his subsequent career made nonsense of the fears occasioned by Leeds' doubting staff. Hartford moved on to Manchester City for £210,000 making his debut in a 4–0 victory over West Ham United, coming to prominence as a strong, talented midfielder helping City win the 1976 League Cup Final, as well as a regular Scottish international.

At the beginning of the 1979–80 season he was transferred to Brian Clough's European Champions at Nottingham Forest (to replace Archie Gemmill) for £500,000 only to be smartly packed off to Everton for £400,000 after 3 games. In October 1981 John Bond brought him back to Maine Road for £375,000. What followed were stints in the United States (Fort Lauderdale Sun), Norwich City (for whom he scored the winning goal in the 1985 League Cup Final), Bolton Wanderers and Oldham Athletic, before he took up coaching/managerial roles with Stockport County, Shrewsbury Town and Boston United where he made 15 appearances as a player at the age of 40.[2]

International career

He played in Scotland's ill-fated 1978 World Cup campaign in Argentina where Ally MacLeod's Scottish squad endured a first round exit. Brian Glanville commenting, in his frequently updated 'The Story of the World Cup', wrote "The Scots had an abundance of fine midfield players at a time when most other countries looked for them desperately; Bruce Rioch, Don Masson, Asa Hartford, Archie Gemmill, Lou Macari, Graeme Souness". Hartford played in all Scotland games in Argentina. His side lost 3–1 to Peru, drew 1–1 with Iran and defeated eventual runners-up the Netherlands 3–2.[3]

Hartford's international career (which began in 1972 against Peru) came to an end in Seville during the Spanish World Cup of 1982 when he recorded his fiftieth cap for Scotland in the game against Brazil, thereby securing himself a place on the national team's Roll of Honour in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.

Coaching and managerial career

Latterly, he joined ex-international team-mates Kenny Dalglish (at Blackburn Rovers), Joe Jordan and Lou Macari (at Stoke City where he spent four matches as caretaker manager) in various coaching/managerial roles before taking on an assistant managerial position at Manchester City with Alan Ball in 1995 and stayed as the reserve team coach until May 2005 when Stuart Pearce brought in his own coaching staff. He thereafter became a coach with Blackpool in December 2005. He left Blackpool in May 2006.

On 29 June 2007 it was announced that he had been appointed assistant manager at Macclesfield Town but both he and Ian Brightwell were sacked in February 2008 to be replaced by Keith Alexander. In April 2008 he was given a role with Accrington Stanley coaching the junior teams and the reserves, but was made redundant from this role in October 2011 and subsequently joined Birmingham City as a scout. In the summer of 2012, he returned to one of his former clubs Norwich City to assist with scouting duties having previously spent a season at Carrow Road in his playing career.

Career statistics

As a player

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
West Bromwich Albion 1967–68 First Division 6100000061
1968–69 First Division 2674100733711
1969–70 First Division 351107040471
1970–71 First Division 342402120423
1971–72 First Division 391101030441
1972–73 First Division 413513141536
1973–74 Second Division 333402000393
1974–75 Second Division 0000003030
Total 2141819215223427126
Manchester City 1974–75 First Division 302101000322
1975–76 First Division 3992192305312
1976–77 First Division 404401020475
1977–78 First Division 374205020464
1978–79 First Division 393305082555
Total 1852212121215223327
Nottingham Forest 1979–80 First Division 3000000030
Total 3000000030
Everton 1979–80 First Division 351513000432
1980–81 First Division 395603000485
1981–82 First Division 7000000070
Total 8161116000987
Manchester City 1981–82 First Division 303204100364
1982–83 First Division 383314000454
1983–84 Second Division 7100000071
Total 757518100889
Norwich City 1984–85 First Division 282408300405
Total 282408300405
Bolton Wanderers 1985–86 Third Division 465104171587
1986–87 Third Division 353500030433
Total 818604110110110
Stockport County 1987–88 Fourth Division 310401010370
1988–89 Fourth Division 140000010150
Total 450401020520
Oldham Athletic 1988–89 Second Division 7000000070
Total 7000000070
Shrewsbury Town 1989–90 Third Division 170101010200
1990–91 Third Division 80002000100
Total 250103010300
Career Total 7446362566951792384
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup, FA Charity Shield, Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs Texaco Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Watney Cup.

As a manager

Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Stockport County 12 June 1987 1 April 1989 93 24 34 35 25.81
Shrewsbury Town 1 January 1990 17 January 1991 55 16 19 20 29.09
Stoke City 10 September 1994 29 September 1994 4 3 0 1 75.00
Total[4] 152 43 53 56 28.29

Honours

Individual

References

Specific
  1. ↑ "The Asa Hartford affair". Mighty Leeds. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "Asa Hartford". ex-canaries.co.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Ally MacLeod" www.qosfc.com 13 December 2010
  4. ↑ "Asa Hartford". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
General

External links

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