once scoring four times during a 5–1 victory over local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers on 27 December 1948. Sunderland 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. Sunderland also purchased a house for Ford and his family. He was seen as a footballing celebrity at the time due to his prolific scoring record having made 128 appearances for Villa between January 1947 and October 1950 scoring 61 goals. He made an impressive start for Sunderland, scoring a hat-trick on his home debut at Roker Park against Sheffield Wednesday, including a typically physical finish for one goal, taking Wednesday goalkeeper Dave McIntosh across the line with the ball, and later breaking a post with one effort. 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. In March 1951, Ford's record transfer fee was broken, following the transfer of Jackie Sewell from Notts County to Sheffield Wednesday for a fee of £34,500. Ford revealed that he was relieved that the record had been broken having described the fee as "weighing heavy on his shoulders". During the 1952–53 season, the club turned down a bid from Italian side Fiorentina for Ford. Ford had been keen on completing the transfer, which would have seen him earning £2,000 a year each with a £35 match win bonus as well as the club buying each player a house. 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. During a match against Chelsea in February 1952, Ford scored a first-half hat-trick during the match as the Mackems found themselves 4–0 up at half-time, Shackleton having also scored. In the second half of the match, Shackleton was believed to have "switched off" as he considered the match already won, leaving Ford to largely play up-front on his own against the opposition defense, resulting in a frustrated Ford to claim to members of the local press after the game that Shackleton never deliberately passed to him during games. Things became so heated between