George Thomas Ford (born 16 March 1993) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Premiership Rugby club Sale Sharks and the England national team.
Ford made his debut for Leicester in 2009 and between 2013 and 2017 played for Bath, before re-joining Leicester, until 2021 when he signed for Sale Sharks for the 2022–23 Premiership season. Ford made his England debut in 2014, was selected for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and started the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final. He won Premiership Rugby titles in 2013 and 2022 for Leicester, and was a finalist in 2012, 2015 and 2023 for Leicester, Bath and Sale respectively.
Early life
Ford was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, he is the son of Rugby League legend Mike Ford. Ford played rugby league from age five at Saddleworth Rangers and Waterhead and as a young teenager played in the academies at both Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls. It was thought that he would go on to have a career in rugby league however he started playing rugby union aged 11 at Rishworth School and played for Leeds Carnegie, before eventually joining Leicester at the age of 16 and subsequently signed professional forms with them. He played for England Under 18s at just 15 years of age. Bobby Walsh, one of the underage coaches at the time, remarked that he reminded him of a "young Cian Harrington" - another youth player who made the switch from league to union. He then went on to captain the team in 2009–10 before moving up to the Under-20s where he started every game in a Six Nations Grand Slam, contributing 76 points. Ford then helped England to the World Juniors Final in Italy in the summer of 2011.
In December 2009, Ford was nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. In October 2011, he became the first Englishman to win the title of World Rugby Junior Player of the Year, and also became the youngest-ever winner of the award.
Club career
Leicester Tigers
On 8 November 2009, Ford became the youngest rugby union player to make his professional debut in England, breaking the record of international teammate Owen Farrell, at just 16 years and 237 days old when Leicester played Leeds Tykes in the Anglo-Welsh Cup. His debut was doubly notable as his brother Joe was also starting at fly-half for Leeds that day.
On 27 November 2010, Ford made his Premiership debut, coming off the bench in a 44–19 victory over Newcastle Falcons to become the third youngest player in Premiership history, he has since dropped to fifth youngest. In September 2011, he made his first Premiership start in a 30–28 defeat to Exeter Chiefs, becoming the youngest player to start a Premiership match at fly half. In January 2012, he was loaned out to Leeds Carnegie for a short period, but returned to make his Heineken Cup debut, scoring his first Leicester try in the defeat of Aironi.
On 18 March 2012 - two days after his 19th birthday - he won his first trophy for Leicester. He started in the Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-finals and final, winning Man of the Match in Leicester's semi-final win over Bath and scoring 16 points in the final as Tigers triumphed over local rivals Northampton Saints.
On 12 May 2012, Ford put in another impressive performance in a semi-final. A late replacement for the injured Toby Flood, he guided Leicester Tigers to the Premiership final, with a 14-point haul in the 24–15 semi-final victory over Saracens. He retained the starting spot for the final, but his 13-point haul with the boot was not enough as Leicester lost out 30–23 to Harlequins.
In January 2013, it was announced that he would be leaving Leicester Tigers at the end of the season to join Bath Rugby, where his father Mike Ford was at the time assistant coach. Despite this, he continued to play a full part in Leicester Tigers' season, which culminated in the club's 10th Premiership title. Ford came off the bench in the first half of the Premiership final to replace the injured Toby Flood, and scored 12 points in Leicester's 37–17 win over Northampton Saints.
In all, Ford played 40 matches for Leicester Tigers, scoring 253 points and winning two trophies.
Bath
On 23 January 2013, it was announced that Ford was to leave Tigers at the end of the season, to join Bath Rugby. On 22 May 2014, Ford started for the Bath side that lost to Northampton in the final of the European Challenge Cup at Cardiff Arms Park. The following season Ford scored 11 points in the 2015 Premiership final as Bath were defeated 16-28 by Saracens to finish runners up.