the pair that, during a friendly match against a Netherlands B side, Shackleton dribbled past the opposition goalkeeper before stopping on the goal-line and passing the ball back to Ford before commenting "Here, don't say I never give you a pass" in reference to Ford's displeasure at his belief that Shackleton would play the ball in areas Ford did not want it. Billy Bingham, who played alongside the pair at Sunderland, later commented "He (Ford) never seemed to know what Shackleton was going to do with the ball and subsequently Trevor believed that Shackleton was ignoring him on the field of play". Stan Anderson, another former teammate of the pair, believed that Shackleton was jealous of Ford's perceived good looks and also supported Ford's claims of Shackleton deliberately misplacing passes to Ford on at least one occasion, commenting "I just had the feeling he (Shackleton) never wanted Trevor to score, which made me really angry". The arguments between the pair eventually led Ford to refuse to play for the side if Shackleton was in the team, following a match against his former club Aston Villa. He was left out of the side for the following match against Portsmouth with the club releasing a statement that he was being "rested due to his current lack of form". Believing his position of the club had become untenable, Ford handed in a transfer request following the match. Later career In December 1953, with Sunderland having failed to mount a consistent title push despite their high spending, and his transfer request, Ford signed for Cardiff City for £30,000, which was a club record fee for the Bluebirds at the time. Cardiff had seen a previous bid rejected but club manager Cyril Spiers traveled to meet Sunderland's board who informed him that they would not accept anything lower than £30,000. When Spiers informed the Cardiff City board of the situation they ordered him to "pay whatever Sunderland want.", the club desperate to seal the signing of a top quality forward having failed in earlier bids to sign John Charles and Tommy Taylor. After completing the move, his goals helped the club to a tenth-placed finish in his first season at Ninian Park. He spent three years at the club, scoring 68 goals in all competitions and winning the Welsh Cup in 1956 with a 3–2 victory over his former side Swansea Town. Ford still holds