several clubs. The scouts included Albert Lindon of Arsenal, who invited Ford and teammate Frank Davies to attend a trial in Cardiff. Ford impressed enough to be offered an amateur contract with the London-based side, which was initially to be withheld until the end of hostilities in the Second World War. However, Ford himself rejected the contract as he felt he was too young too move away from his home and family. He remained in Swansea for another year, working in the local steelworks whilst playing local football, until Swansea Town manager Haydn Green visited Ford's home. Green had taken over Swansea in 1939 and had set about establishing the side as a feeder club for local youth talent due to a lack of finances, offering 17-year-old Ford an amateur contract in 1940 before signing him to his first professional contract with Swansea two years later. With the Football League suspended due to the Second World War, Ford featured for the club in wartime Combination leagues. Having spent his youth career as a defender, during his war service, Ford grew substantially in both height and weight and the Sergeant Major in charge of the local army football side switched him to centre-forward where he flourished, scoring 41 times between 1945 and 1946 in regional wartime competitions. After he was moved from his original army posting in Rhyl to new barracks in Colchester, Ford appeared for Leyton Orient in wartime fixtures, scoring three times in four appearances for the side. Following the return of league football after wartime, he made his fully professional competitive debut and played sixteen times in the first half of the 1946–47 season for the Swans in the Second Division before moving to Aston Villa in January 1947 for a fee of £9,500 plus Tommy Dodds. On his arrival at Villa Park, he was welcomed by George Edwards, who would be moved to the right-wing to accommodate the signing of Ford. Edwards described Ford as "just the penetrating type of leader Villa needs". He made his debut for his new club on 18 January in a 2–0 win over Arsenal and settled well, scoring nine times in nine games during the second half of the season including a goal on his home debut at Villa Park, a 1–1 draw with Blackpool. He would go on to finish as the club's top scorer in the following three seasons,