Darren Ward (footballer, born 1974)

Last updated

Darren Ward
Personal information
Date of birth (1974-05-11) 11 May 1974 (age 49)
Place of birth Worksop, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
England
(goalkeeping coach)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1992–1995 Mansfield Town 81 (0)
1995–2001 Notts County 252 (0)
2001–2004 Nottingham Forest 123 (0)
2004–2006 Norwich City 1 (0)
2006–2009 Sunderland 33 (0)
2009Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 0 (0)
Total490(0)
International career
2000–2004 Wales 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Darren Ward (born 11 May 1974) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is goalkeeping coach of the England women's national team.

Contents

Born in England, he made five appearances for the Wales national team.

Club career

Born in Worksop, Ward started his professional career with Mansfield Town, where he made 97 appearances, helping them reach the play-offs. He moved to Notts County for £150,000 in July 1995, where he would go on to make his most appearances. During a six-season stay, he played over 300 games for the Meadow Lane club.

He moved across the River Trent in 2001 to join local rivals Nottingham Forest. He spent three seasons in the First Division with Forest as they strove for promotion back to the Premier League, but a play-off spot in 2003 was as near as they managed.

He finally got his opportunity to play in the top flight when he joined newly promoted Norwich City in a two-year deal in August 2004. [1] However, the form of Robert Green meant he only managed one appearance in the Premier League, coming on as a substitute in a defeat at Charlton Athletic. The club was relegated after a solitary season at the highest level, but Ward made no further appearances for the Canaries in the lower tier either.

He was released at the end of the 2005–06 season after not signing a new contract at the club, and on 4 August 2006, he signed a contract at Sunderland. [2] He had to wait until October for his debut, replacing teenager Ben Alnwick after the appointment of Roy Keane as manager, but made the number 1 spot his own for the rest of the season as the side went on to top the Championship.[ citation needed ] One particularly outstanding save against Southampton which was later described as being in the style of Gordon Banks by opposition manager George Burley. [3]

Ward found himself replaced by £9million new signing Craig Gordon upon Sunderland's return to the Premier League, but did manage three appearances, keeping a clean sheet in his first, a 1–0 win over Derby County. During the January 2008 winter transfer window, he rejected a move to Scottish giants Rangers, preferring to stay and fight to be the first-choice keeper at the Stadium of Light.

He failed to break back into the first team at Sunderland the following season and joined Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Championship in March 2009 on loan for the remainder of the campaign. [4] However, injury meant he returned to his parent club early.

He was released by Sunderland on 28 May 2009 [5] and subsequently announced his playing retirement. [6] On 12 October 2009 it was announced that Ward was the new goalkeeping coach for Peterborough United, replacing Andy Dibble, who departed from the role for personal reasons. [7]

International career

Ward won five caps for the Welsh national team before announcing his international retirement in May 2007. [8] He made his international debut on 2 June 2000 in a 3–0 friendly defeat to Portugal. He had to wait until 2002 for his next cap, and won further caps during 2003–04, all during friendly internationals.

Family

Ward married Nicola in 1997 and later became a father to Rhys Harry (2000) and Evie Mae (2003).[ citation needed ]

Honours

Sunderland

Individual

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Clark (footballer)</span> English association football player and manager

Lee Robert Clark is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who was most recently the manager of Al-Merrikh in the Sudan Premier League.

Paul William Bracewell is an English former professional football player and manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Gray (footballer)</span> English footballer

Michael Gray is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back or left winger for 18 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Davies (footballer, born 1979)</span> Welsh footballer

Simon Davies is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a winger. Davies started his career at Peterborough United before playing for Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Fulham, earning a runner-up medal during the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League with Fulham. Davies made more than 350 appearances at senior club level in England, along with earning 58 caps for the Welsh national team. He was most recently the assistant manager of Crawley Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Colgan</span> Irish footballer and coach

Nicholas Vincent Colgan is an Irish football coach and former professional footballer who is goalkeeping coach at EFL League Two side Stockport County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Caig</span> English footballer and coach

Antony Caig is an English football coach and former player, who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the Head of Academy Goalkeeping for Premier League Club Newcastle United.

Graham Anthony Kavanagh is an Irish football manager and former professional player.

John Robert Campbell Robinson is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made over 400 appearances during his professional career with Brighton & Hove Albion, Charlton Athletic, Cardiff City and Gillingham and also won 30 caps for Wales.

Duncan Alan Jupp is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in England, he earned nine caps with the Scotland U21 national team.

Gareth Whalley is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland B team at international level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jody Craddock</span> English footballer and artist

Jody Darryl Craddock is an English former professional footballer and artist who played as a centre back in the Premier League for Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Kevin Miller is an English former football goalkeeper who made more than 600 appearances in the Premier League and Football League.

Mauricio Ricardo Taricco is an Argentine football coach and former professional footballer who is assistant coach at French side Bordeaux.

Alan William Fettis is a Northern Ireland former professional footballer and goalkeeping coach at Championship side Middlesbrough

Ian Michael Hendon is an English football manager and former player who played as a defender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dariusz Kubicki</span> Polish footballer and manager

Dariusz Jan Kubicki is a Polish football manager and a former player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Stewart</span> English footballer

William Marcus Paul Stewart is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1991 until 2011. He is currently Head of Player Development at Yeovil Town.

Michael Heathcote is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He made 430 appearances in the Football League for Sunderland, Halifax Town, York City, Shrewsbury Town, Cambridge United and Plymouth Argyle.

James David Stannard is an English retired football goalkeeper. Whilst playing for Gillingham he set a record for the lowest number of goals conceded in a 46-match season in the Football League, when he let in just 20 goals in the 1995–96 season. Until 18 January 2013, he was first-team goalkeeping coach at Southampton. Stannard is currently the first team goalkeeper coach for Dartford.

References

  1. "Ward moves to Norwich". BBC Sport. 6 August 2006.
  2. "Sunderland sign Wales keeper Ward". BBC Sport. 4 August 2006.
  3. Mellor, Jason (13 November 2006). "Sunderland 1 Southampton 1: Burley helps Keane on upward learning curve". The Independent. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  4. "Wolves sign keeper Ward on loan". BBC Sport. 2 March 2009.
  5. Setanta Sports (28 May 2009). "Sunderland announce major clear-out". Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  6. Sky Sports. "Ward announces retirement" . Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  7. "Posh appoint new goalkeeper coach". BBC Sport. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  8. "Ward closes book on Wales career". BBC Sport. 2 May 2007.
  9. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1996). The 1996–97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 285. ISBN   978-1-85291-571-1.
  10. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1998). The 1998–99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 352. ISBN   978-1-85291-588-9.