Trevor Ford (1 October 1923 – 29 May 2003) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a centre forward for Swansea Town, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Cardiff City, PSV, Newport County and Romford, as well as for the Wales national team.

Described by The Independent as a "fearsomely physical" forward,[2] Ford began his career with his hometown club Swansea Town during wartime and played for less than one season in the Second Division.

[5] During his career, Ford represented Wales on 38 occasions and became his country's all-time record top goalscorer with 23 goals which stood until it was equaled by Ivor Allchurch and later surpassed by Ian Rush and Gareth Bale.

[8] His father, Trevor Sr, had been a physical training instructor during the First World War before returning to South Wales to work as a delivery van driver and later at a local cinema, eventually being promoted to manager.

He would also soak a leather football in water and make him wear an ordinary plimsoll on his stronger foot to stop Ford kicking the heavy ball with it.

[8][11] After moving into secondary school, Ford met teacher David Benyon, who was a prominent figure in youth football in the area and included him in the Swansea boys team he managed.

He later joined the army to complete his wartime service, serving as a physical training instructor in the Royal Artillery and,[2] in the latter stages of the Second World War, was an anti-aircraft gunner.

Ford's first step into organised team football came with local Swansea based side Tower United, joining the club at the age of 15 as a full-back.

[8] Having spent his youth career as a defender, during his war service, Ford grew substantially in both height and weight and the Sergeant Major in charge of the local army football side switched him to centre-forward where he flourished, scoring 41 times between 1945 and 1946 in regional wartime competitions.

[8] Following the return of league football after wartime, he made his fully professional competitive debut and played sixteen times in the first half of the 1946–47 season for the Swans in the Second Division.

[3] Aston Villa were, however, never able to maintain a title push and, in October 1950, 27-year-old Ford was the subject of a British football transfer record when he signed for 'Bank of England club' Sunderland for £30,000.

[2] Despite being the most expensive footballer in British history, Ford continued to work as a car salesman for the Sunderland chairman in his spare time after training to earn extra money.

[8] With the club's failure to live up to its high spending potential, Ford became a target for doubters due to his physical playing style and his arguments with teammate and former record-breaking signing, Len Shackleton.

[8] The arguments between the pair eventually led Ford to refuse to play for the side if Shackleton was in the team, following a match against his former club Aston Villa.

[8] In December 1953, with Sunderland having failed to mount a consistent title push despite their high spending, and his transfer request, Ford signed for Cardiff City for £30,000, which was a club record fee for the Bluebirds at the time.

Cardiff had seen a previous bid rejected but club manager Cyril Spiers traveled to meet Sunderland's board who informed him that they would not accept anything lower than £30,000.

[16] After leaving Cardiff in 1956, he released his autobiography I Lead the Attack in which he revealed that he was involved in an illegal-payments scandal while at Sunderland, with the club attempting to circumvent the maximum wage at the time by offering payments and other incentives to players.

Despite averaging a goal nearly every other game, Ford was largely in the shadow of one of the PSV's all-time greats in Coen Dillen during his spell with the club and failed to win a trophy during his three-year stint in Holland.

His Wales international teammate John Charles commented on his playing style,[19] stating that "He used to bang everybody and knock them out of the way, he was never frightened" but also described him as a wonderful person.

[3] Holidaying in South Wales at the time and a spectator at the game, Ford volunteered to field for Glamorgan after Ossie Wheatley left the match due to injury during the lunch interval.