Stephen Forde (29 August 1914 â 1992) was an English footballer who played as a full-back in the Football League for Rotherham United and West Ham United.
Forde began his career as a junior at right-back, captaining his school team, and playing with South Kirkby Common Road, before joining South Kirkby. In January 1933 he joined Sheffield Wednesday, who played Ford as a centre-half. After just two months at Wednesday he moved to Rotherham United, where he only missed two first team matches in four seasons.
In January 1937, West Ham United paid a record fee of around ã3,000, to beat many other clubs to the signing of Forde from Rotherham. He was initially recruited for the reserve team as a replacement for Bill Adams. He became a regular for the Irons' second string as a full-back, where he formed a partnership with Alf Chalkley. He made his first-team debut on 2 April 1938, a 1âÂÂ3 loss against Tottenham Hotspur.
During World War II Forde worked in a colliery whilst making guest appearances primarily for West Ham, where he played in the 1940 Football League War Cup semi-final win against Fulham. In 1943 he made guest appearances for Hartlepool United, and also featured for Sunderland and Swindon Town.
After the war, he returned to competitive football with West Ham â his return 7 years, 9 months and 19 days after his previous game remains as the second-longest period between first-team appearances, behind Reg Attwell. He became a regular feature for West Ham and was an ever-present during the 1947âÂÂ48 season. He retired in 1951 having made 170 Second Division appearances for the club.
After ending his League career in 1951, he spent time as manager of Western League team Penzance.
His younger brother, John, was also a footballer who played for Stoke City and Gainsborough Trinity.