Beckford originally began his career in the Chelsea youth team, coming through the schoolboy ranks at the same time as Carlton Cole.

Rejected by Chelsea in 2003, he was signed up by Wealdstone, then in the Isthmian Premier League, and played as a semi-professional for three years whilst also working as a windscreen fitter for the RAC.

[3] He had a trial with Championship side Crystal Palace,[4] before signing for Leeds United in March 2006 for an undisclosed fee, having scored 35 goals in 40 games for Wealdstone that season.

[5] Beckford made his debut for Championship side Leeds coming on as a substitute in a home defeat against Crystal Palace on 21 March.

Beckford signed a new three-year deal with Leeds, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2009–10 season,[10] and won October 2007's League One Fans' Player of the Month award.

[20] He came to further prominence scoring the only goal as Leeds beat old rivals Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup – the first time they had been knocked out of a competition so early under Alex Ferguson.

[21][22] Beckford then withdrew his transfer request days before scoring twice in the FA Cup fourth round, taking Tottenham Hotspur to a replay.

[23] By the end of the season Beckford had scored 31 goals in all competitions, 25 in the league, as Leeds finished in second place to gain automatic promotion to the Championship.

[33] He made his debut for Bolton in their 1–1 draw with Lancashire rivals Burnley on 3 August 2013, playing eighty minutes before being replaced by Craig Davies.

[36] He rediscovered his form, and in total he scored 18 goals for Preston in 31 appearances in all competitions, including a hat-trick in the play-off final at Wembley against Swindon Town on 24 May 2015 to win the club promotion to the Championship.

[37] After being released by Bolton Wanderers, Beckford signed a permanent two-year contract with Preston North End effective from 1 July 2015.

[44] Due to having a Jamaican father and Grenadian mother Beckford was eligible under FIFA regulations to play for either Jamaica, Grenada or England.

[47] In November 2012, the Jamaican Football Federation reported that Beckford had shown interest playing for the Reggae Boyz and was in the pool of players eligible to be called up for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

[49] Beckford made a total of six appearances for Jamaica, scoring one goal in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match against the United States in June 2013.