Junior football Originally from
Parade College, Harford was a
Teal Cup captain of Victoria as a youngster. He played junior football for St Mary's in the
Diamond Valley Football League, and was recruited from the
Northern U18 team by the
Hawthorn Football Club with the 8th overall selection in the
1994 AFL draft.
AFL football While at Hawthorn, where he made his debut in 1995, Harford was a hard-at-the-ball
midfielder or occasionally,
small forward. He also made regular appearances on
The Footy Show during this period. In 2002, Harford managed just 11 games, suffering a run of injuries, and continued to struggle for form and fitness in 2003 where he played only another 5 games. Although Harford was on a long-term contract, Hawthorn decided to try to offload him, and at the end of the year
Carlton contracted traded pick no. 51 for him, with Hawthorn paying half his contract. During a pre-season run in October 2004 Harford, decided to retire from AFL football.
Local football Harford played
VAFA football for Old Paradians in 2005, and returned to the
VFL to play for the
Northern Bullants, with whom he had
previously played while on the Carlton list. He was consistently one of the best in the Bullants' minor premiership team, winning the Laurie Hill Trophy as the Bullants' best and fairest, and finishing third in the
J. J. Liston Trophy count. In 2007, Harford moved to the
Balwyn Football Club in the
Eastern Football League. He played there in 2007, served as playing-coach in 2008 (winning the premiership that season), and retired from playing at the end of 2008. ==Coaching career==