Gordon Staniforth

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Personal information
Gordon Staniforth
Full name	Gordon Romeo Staniforth
Date of birth	23 March 1957 (1957-03-23) (age 51)
Place of birth	Kingston upon Hull, England
Height	163cm
Playing position	Striker
Youth clubs
-1974	Hull City
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1974-1976 1976-1979 1979-1983 1983-1985 1985-1987 1987-1988	Hull City York City Carlisle United Plymouth Argyle Newport County York City	012 0(2) 128 (33) 126 (33) 091 (19) 087 (13) 019 0(1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Gordon Staniforth (born 9 March 1957 in Kingston upon Hull, England) is an English former footballer. He represented England at schoolboy international level.

[edit] Career

Staniforth was born in Hull and attended Greatfield High School. He began his career as an apprentice with Hull City, making his league debut towards the end of the 1974-75 season. He moved to York City in December 1976, scoring 33 times in 128 league games.

In October 1979 he moved to Carlisle United, where again he was a regular goalscorer, for a fee of £120,000. He joined Plymouth Argyle in March 1983 and was part of the side that reached an FA Cup semi-final. In August 1985 he moved to Newport County before returning to York City in October 1987 on non-contract terms to end his professional career.

After retiring he worked as a regional director for the Professional Footballers Association before becoming a youth coach at Leeds United in October 1997. However, in May 1998 he was sacked after just seven months of a three-year contract^[1].

He is currently co-ordinator at York College's Football Development Centre, alongside former York City goalkeeper Andy Leaning. The centre was awarded FA Charter status in 2005^[2].

His son Tom (15 December 1980 - 20 August 2001) was also a footballer. He was a professional with Sheffield Wednesday, but never played a competitive first team game for the Owls. He died in York city centre on the night of 20 August 2001, having collapsed in the street after complaining of headaches^[3]. On 31 January 2002, a local man called Miles Massey (a former York City youth team goalkeeper) was charged with supplying ecstasy to Staniforth. Mr Massey was later acquitted on this charge after the prosecution failed to offer any evidence against him.

Since Tom's death, Staniforth has since been involved in anti-drug campaigning^[4].

Gordon's daughter, Lucy has also represented England at under-17 level, having been aged only 15. She is currently playing for Sunderland AFC. She can play either centre midfield, right wing,left wing or upfront.