Jason Beckford

Jason Neil Beckford (born 14 February 1970) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Port Vale, Birmingham City, Bury, Stoke City, Millwall, Northampton Town in the 1990s. He also managed Mossley from 2003 to 2007, taking the club to two promotions. His elder brother Darren also played professional football.

Jason Beckford
Personal information
Full name Jason Neil Beckford[1]
Date of birth (1970-02-14) 14 February 1970[1]
Place of birth Moss Side, Manchester, England[1]
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1991 Manchester City 20 (1)
1991 → Blackburn Rovers (loan) 4 (0)
1991 → Port Vale (loan) 5 (1)
1992–1994 Birmingham City 7 (2)
1994 → Bury (loan) 3 (0)
1994 Stoke City 4 (0)
1994–1995 Millwall 9 (0)
1995–1996 Northampton Town 1 (0)
Total 53 (4)
Teams managed
2003–2007 Mossley
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Beckford began his career at Manchester City in 1987–88, who were then a Second Division side under the stewardship of Mel Machin. City won promotion as the division's runners-up in 1988–89, and went on to finish 14th in the First Division in 1989–90 under new boss Howard Kendall. Towards the end of the 1990–91 season, new manager Peter Reid allowed Beckford to drop down a division to play four games on loan at Don Mackay's Blackburn Rovers. After returning from Ewood Park, he found himself out of the first team picture at Maine Road. John Rudge – who had sold his brother Darren a few months earlier – brought Beckford on loan to Port Vale in September as cover for the injured Keith Houchen.[1] He claimed a goal in a 2–1 win over Grimsby Town at Blundell Park on 12 October, before leaving Vale Park after five Second Division appearances.[1] He moved on to Birmingham City in the 1991–92 season for a £50,000 fee, though would never force himself into manager Terry Cooper's first team plans. He scored the "Blues" consolation goal in a 2–1 defeat to Stoke City at the Victoria Ground on 4 January, but started just two league games as Birmingham won promotion as runners-up of the Third Division. He started three games in the 1992–93 campaign, and claimed a goal at St Andrew's in a 2–0 win over Southend United on 1 September. Beckford's only appearances in the 1993–94 season came at Gigg Lane in a three-game loan spell with Mike Walsh's Bury. Beckford spent the first half of the 1994–95 season at Stoke City, but made just three starts for the "Potters". He then joined Mick McCarthy's Millwall, and played nine First Division games in the second half of the 1994–95 season. However, he left The Old Den at the end of the season, and arrived at Third Division side Northampton Town for the start of the 1995–96 campaign. He made four substitute appearances for Ian Atkins's "Cobblers", before announcing his retirement at Sixfields due to injury.

Management and coaching career

Beckford arrived at Mossley after coaching Bolton Wanderers' Academy side. He was appointed assistant manager in June 2002 and, following Ally Pickering's sudden departure in July 2003 he was appointed team manager.[2] He led the "Lilywhites" to second place in the North West Counties League in 2003–04, which was enough to secure a place in the Northern Premier League. A seventh-place finish in 2004–05 saw Mossley miss out on the Division One play-offs by a three-point margin, before they won the league in 2005–06. However they could not survive in the Premier Division, and Beckford left the club after relegation in 2006–07.

After leaving this post in April 2007, he returned to Bolton in 2008 as part of the club's restructured youth academy, and also worked as the under-16 coach alongside Steve Morgan at Oldham Athletic.[3] In August 2012, he moved to Canada to work as Newmarket Soccer Club's technical director.[4]

Career statistics

Source:[5][6]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester City 1987–88 Second Division 5000000050
1988–89 Second Division 81004000121
1989–90 First Division 5000000050
1990–91 First Division 2000110031
Blackburn Rovers (loan) 1990–91 Second Division 4000000040
Port Vale (loan) 1991–92 Second Division 5100000051
Birmingham City 1991–92 Third Division 4100001051
1992–93 First Division 3100000031
1993–94 First Division 0000000000
Bury (loan) 1993–94 Third Division 3000000030
Stoke City 1994–95 First Division 4000001050
Millwall 1994–95 First Division 9000000090
Northampton Town 1995–96 Third Division 1010002040
Career total 534105140635
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup and Football League Trophy.

Honours

Birmingham City

Mossley

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References
  1. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 22. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. "Jason BECKFORD, 2003 – 2007". Mossley Managers. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
  3. "Centre of Excellence Programme at Boundary Park". oldhamathletic.co.uk. 24 July 2011. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  4. Cudmorw, John. "Newmarket Soccer Club hires new technical director". yorkregion.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  5. Jason Beckford at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  6. Jason Beckford at Soccerbase
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