Richard Ord Recalls Joining QPR and His Career-Ending Injury

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Profiled in the Sunderland Echo, one-time QPR signing Richard Ord, who got injured on his debut after his million pound signing by Ray Harford, almost a decade ago, and never played again...

".... Seeing that Ord had been left out of the play-off final, QPR manager Ray Harford asked about the defender's availability.
"Ray had been my England Under-21 coach and was a fantastic bloke and great coach," said Ord. "He got in touch and asked about me. I don't think Reidy wanted me to leave and I know that Bobby Saxton didn't, but they were fair and said it was up to me.
"I went to see Ray and he wanted me in his side and was going to make me captain, so I made the decision to go. I still had four years on my deal at Sunderland and time to turn things round, which I think I could, but I was upset about not being involved in the side and I made the hardest decision of my life, to go."
There should have been plenty for Ord still to achieve, but that play-off semi against the Blades became the last game of his pro career.
"To be honest, it was a miracle I passed the medical with QPR because my back wasn't good; I had a prolapsed disc," he recalled.
"But I went down to QPR really fired up for something new, and it was all finished before I'd played a game for them.
"In my first training session, I went to block the ball and my knee went. I did everything – cruciate, nerves, the lot.
"I gave it two years down there and had six operations, but it was never going to be right and I was finished."...

Full article at (Sunderland) Football Echo - Dickie Ord: 20 years on from debut joy

See Also: Ord Turns 37 and career stats