Ashley Ward
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Ashley Stuart Ward | ||
Date of birth | 24 November 1970 | ||
Place of birth | Middleton, Lancashire, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
Cheadle Town | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1989–1991 | Manchester City | 1 | (0) |
1991 | → Wrexham (loan) | 4 | (2) |
1991–1992 | Leicester City | 10 | (0) |
1992 | → Blackpool (loan) | 2 | (1) |
1992–1994 | Crewe Alexandra | 61 | (25) |
1994–1996 | Norwich City | 53 | (18) |
1996–1997 | Derby County | 40 | (9) |
1997–1998 | Barnsley | 46 | (20) |
1998–2000 | Blackburn Rovers | 54 | (13) |
2000–2003 | Bradford City | 84 | (17) |
2003–2005 | Sheffield United | 33 | (5) |
Total | 388 | (110) | |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Ashley Ward (born 24 November 1970) is a businessman and retired English footballer who played centre forward.
Early life
Ward was born in Middleton, Lancashire (Now Greater Manchester), the son of a coal mining engineer. He attended William Hulme's Grammar School, which opted for Rugby and Lacrosse as the school sports over football.[1]
Football career
Ward had a spell with Manchester United in the 1986–87 season, making 16 appearances for the club's Junior B team. He then played for Cheadle Town Youth, and chose to become an apprentice at Manchester City above an offer from Blackburn Rovers.[1]
He played for at least a dozen different clubs in a long career, including Crewe Alexandra, where he made his name, Norwich City, Derby County, Barnsley and Blackburn Rovers and Bradford City.
Ward contributed to Derby's 1996-97 Premier League campaign, scoring a late winner against Chelsea and one of the goals as Derby memorably beat Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford.[2][3] Barnsley signed Ward from Derby County in September 1997, shortly after their promotion to the Premier League. Throughout their debut season in the Premier League he scored some crucial and memorable goals including the only goal in 1-0 winners against Liverpool and Aston Villa at Anfield and Villa Park respectively.[4][5] However, he was unable to prevent Barnsley's relegation at the end of that season.
In November 1998, whilst still playing for Barnsley in a match at Sunderland, Ward scored, missed a penalty and got sent off in the space of five minutes, with all incidents also involving Sunderland defender Darren Williams.[6]
Ward retired in the summer of 2005.
After retirement
Ward and his wife run a number of businesses, including:
- A commercial property business.
- Operating Abafields, a nursing home in Bolton bought for development but now operating under a manager[7]
- Managing a £15million luxury property development company Bilton Ward Developments.[7][8][9] Formed in 2002 the company specialises in the building and renovation of luxury homes, many for footballers including Kevin Campbell and Wayne Rooney.[10] Interior design is often done by former Changing Rooms designer Laura McCree.
Personal life
Ward is married to former model Dawn. Born in Salford, she is a former school friend of Ryan Giggs. Ward proposed to her in the car park of the pub where she worked when they first met.[1][8] The couple have four daughters together[11] and used to live in Mill Lane, Mottram St. Andrew. He bought Warford Hall in late 2014. He also makes an appearance in The Real Housewives of Cheshire in which his wife, Dawn, stars.
References
- ^ a b c Ashley reaps the rewards for dogged determination Archived 14 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Football: Break-up blues for Ward and Sturridge". Independent. 1 March 1997. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ^ "Wanchope cuts down United". Independent. 5 April 1997. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ^ "Football: Liverpool left in emergency Ward". Independent. 22 November 1997. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ^ "Football: Ward makes Villa pay for profligacy". Independent. 11 March 1998. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ^ "Tykes take shine to a Light show of passion". Guardian. 21 November 1998. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Premiership class". Homesearch. 23 February 2005. Archived from the original on 13 January 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ a b Living: A style she can sell – Times Online
- ^ Living: A style she can sell – Times Online
- ^ Latest news, breaking news, current news, UK news, world news, celebrity news, politics news – Telegraph
- ^ The Diary: A new Dawn Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Use dmy dates from July 2013
- 1970 births
- Living people
- English footballers
- Cheadle Town F.C. players
- Manchester City F.C. players
- Wrexham A.F.C. players
- Leicester City F.C. players
- Blackpool F.C. players
- Crewe Alexandra F.C. players
- Norwich City F.C. players
- Derby County F.C. players
- Barnsley F.C. players
- Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
- Bradford City A.F.C. players
- Sheffield United F.C. players
- Premier League players
- People from Middleton, Greater Manchester
- People educated at William Hulme's Grammar School
- Association football forwards