Julian Ward

Last updated
Julian Ward
Personal information
Full name Julian Daniel Ward
Date of birth(1981-06-17)17 June 1981
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Morecambe
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1997–2002 Morecambe
2002–2003 Hyde United
2003–2005 Kidsgrove Athletic
2005–2007 Larne 57 (2)
2007–2008 Lisburn Distillery 28 (3)
Managerial career
2008–2010 Portugal (Head of Technical Scouting)
2010–2012 Manchester City (South American Scouting Manager)
2012–2015 Liverpool (European Scouting Manager)
2015–2020 Liverpool (Loan Player Manager)
2020–2022 Liverpool (Assistant Sporting Director)
2022–2023 Liverpool (Sporting Director)
2024– Liverpool (Technical Director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Julian Ward (born 17 June 1981) is an English football executive and former footballer who is the current technical director of Liverpool Football Club.

Contents

Early life

Ward was born on 17 June 1981 in Liverpool, England, but grew up in Cumbria, England. Eventually, he returned to Liverpool to study sports science at Liverpool John Moores University. [1]

Playing career

As a youth player, Ward joined the academy of English side Morecambe, where he started his senior playing career. In 2003, he signed for English side Hyde United. One year later, he signed for English side Kidsgrove Athletic. In 2005, Ward moved to Belfast and signed for Northern Irish Premier League side Larne Football Club managed by Kenny Shiels [2] . Ward spent two seasons with Larne Football Club before signing for Paul Kirk’s Northern Irish Premier League side Lisburn Distillery in 2007. [3]

Managerial career

In July 2008 Ward left Northern Ireland to become part of Carlos Queiroz’s technical team [4] , when he was appointed Head of Technical Scouting for the Portugal national football team. During his time with the Portugal national football team, he lived in Lisbon and learnt Portuguese. [5] After the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa, Carlos Queiroz was replaced by Paulo Bento and Ward returned to England, accepting a position within the scouting department of English Premier League side Manchester City.

In September 2012, Ward left Manchester City to take the role of European scouting manager and later loan player manager for English Premier League side Liverpool Football Club. By 2020, after establishing the club's loan player department, he was promoted to assistant sporting director, working alongside Michael Edwards. Upon promotion to Liverpool FC's sporting director in 2022, Ward led on the signings of a number of players, including Colombian international Luis Díaz [6] [7] , Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez [8] , Dutch winger Cody Gakpo [9] and Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister. [10]

Ward returned to Liverpool Football Club in May 2024. [11] [12]

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References

  1. ↑ "How Julian Ward used Portuguese connections to help Liverpool strike Darwin Nunez deal". liverpoolecho.co.uk. 12 June 2022.
  2. ↑ "Kenny Shiels delighted that former Larne player Julian Ward is set for a top post at Liverpool". 14 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "Kirk left in a rage over 'abysmal' performance from Whites". 13 August 2007.
  4. ↑ "From Jordanstown to South Africa, my amazing World Cup odyssey". 29 June 2010.
  5. ↑ Pearce, James. "The remarkable rise of Julian Ward at Liverpool: Scouting manager to sporting director in seven years". The New York Times .
  6. ↑ Wallace, Sam (30 January 2022). "How Liverpool 'backdoored' Tottenham to win battle for Luis Diaz – and outflanked Daniel Levy". The Telegraph.
  7. ↑ "Liverpool used three players to steal Luis Diaz from Tottenham". 25 July 2022.
  8. ↑ https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11669/12648114/darwin-nunez-sadio-mane-and-mo-salah-transfer-talk-podcast-assesses-liverpools-summer-business
  9. ↑ "Julian Ward can complete private Liverpool transfer mission with two major deals". 28 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Alexis Mac Allister: Liverpool sign Brighton & Argentina midfielder for £35m". BBC Sport. 8 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Former Irish League star to return to Liverpool as technical director". 10 May 2024.
  12. ↑ Pearce, James. "Julian Ward returns to Liverpool as FSG technical director, Pedro Marques named director of football development". The New York Times.
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