Jason Neil Beckford (born 14 February 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player. His elder brother Darren also played professional football.
Beckford began his playing career as a forward with Manchester City, where he played 12 times in the 1988–89 Second Division promotion winning campaign. He then had brief loan spells at Blackburn Rovers and Port Vale, before signing with Birmingham City for a £150,000 fee in the 1991–92 Third Division promotion-winning season. He was loaned out to Bury, before joining Stoke City in 1994. He ended the 1994–95 season at Millwall before announcing his retirement after spending the 1995–96 season with Northampton Town.
Beckford coached in the Academy at Bolton Wanderers, before being appointed assistant manager of Mossley in June 2002. He was appointed as manager 13 months later and went on to lead the club to promotions out of the North West Counties League in 2003–04 and the Northern Premier League Division One in 2005–06. He left the club at the end of the 2006–07 season and went on to coach at Bolton and Oldham Athletic. He emigrated to Canada in 2012 and was appointed as head coach of Simcoe County Rovers in March 2022. He led Rovers to the League1 Ontario title in 2023.
Playing career
Manchester City
An England U16 international, Beckford began his career at Manchester City in 1987–88, who were then a Second Division side under the stewardship of Mel Machin. Beckford signed as an apprentice at age 16, turned professional at age 17, and made his first-team debut against Middlesbrough. 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. 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. In August 2012, he moved to Canada to work as Newmarket Soccer Club's technical director. He was later Technical Director at Kleinberg Nobleton SC and Vaughan SC. He was named the league's Coach of the Year. He departed the club at the end of 2023, after leading Rovers to the league title that season with victory over Scrosoppi in the play-off final.
Personal life
His parents, Dudley and Valdene, were from Jamaica. His brother, Darren Beckford, is a former professional footballer. His son Ethan Beckford has also played professional football.
Career statistics
As a player
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|FA Cup
!colspan="2"|League Cup
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="5"|Manchester City
|1987–88
|Second Division
|5||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||5||0
|-
|1988–89
|Second Division
|8||1||0||0||4||0||0||0||12||1
|-
|1989–90
|First Division
|5||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||5||0
|-
|1990–91
|First Division
|2||0||0||0||1||1||0||0||3||1
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!20!!1!!0!!0!!5!!1!!0!!0!!25!!2
|-
|Blackburn Rovers (loan)
|1990–91
|Second Division
|4||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||4||0
|-
|Port Vale (loan)
|1991–92
|Second Division
|5||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||5||1
|-
|rowspan="4"|Birmingham City
|1991–92
|Third Division
|4||1||0||0||0||0||1||0||5||1
|-
|1992–93
|First Division
|3||1||0||0||0||0||0||0||3||1
|-
|1993–94
|First Division
|0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!7!!2!!0!!0!!0!!0!!1!!0!!8!!2
|-
|Bury (loan)
|1993–94
|Third Division
|3||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||3||0
|-
|Stoke City
|1994–95
|First Division
|4||0||0||0||0||0||1||0||5||0
|-
|Millwall
|1994–95
|First Division
|9||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||9||0
|-
|Northampton Town
|1995–96
|Third Division
|1||0||1||0||0||0||2||0||4||0
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!53!!4!!1!!0!!5!!1!!4!!0!!63!!5
|}
:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup and Football League Trophy.
As a manager
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|+ Managerial record by team and tenure
|-
!rowspan=2|Team
!rowspan=2|From
!rowspan=2|To
!colspan=5|Record
!rowspan=2|
|-
!!!!!!!!!
|-
|align=left|Mossley
|align=left|July 2003
|align=left|April 2007
|