Chris Ward (born 28 April 1981) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

. He played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Lincoln City.

Early career

Hailing from the Preston suburb of

Ashton-on-Ribble Ashton-on-Ribble is a suburb of Preston, Lancashire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 4,459. Ashton-on-Ribble was recorded in the ''Domesday Book''. Demographics The 2011 census records the ward's population at 4,459; in 2001 the ...

, Ward began his career with local sides Springfields and Fulwood Amateurs whilst studying at Ashton-on-Ribble High School and

Preston College Preston College is a further education college in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. The college originally opened as W. R. Tuson College in September 1974 and was renamed Preston College on 1 September 1989. Campus The college had ...

before signing for

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...

at the age of 18. Ward quickly made an impression at Lancaster, scoring on his full debut in the 2–0 away victory over

Winsford United Winsford United Football Club are a football club based in Winsford, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1883 and are nicknamed ''The Blues''. The club is currently a member of the , with home matches played at The Barton Stadium. Thei ...

on 24 August 1999. A deluge of goals for Lancaster attracted the attention of scouts and on 24 April 2001 Ward agreed to join

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

for £25,000; his contract would officially begin at the start of the 2001–02 season. Ward failed to make the first team at Birmingham and in October 2001 he joined

Forest Green At right is displayed the color forest green. ''Forest green'' refers to a green color said to resemble the color of the trees and other plants in a forest. This web color, when written as computer code in HTML for website color display, is w ...

on a month's loan, making his debut in the 2–2 home draw with

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

on 29 September 2001 and scoring his first, and only, league goal for the club a week later in the 5–1 away defeat to

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. In March 2002 he joined

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

, again on loan, debuting in the 3–2 home defeat to

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

on 1 April 2002. Released by Birmingham at the end of the season, he joined Barrow, making his debut in the 1–1 home draw with

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club are a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club are members of the and play at Watnall Road. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

on 17 August 2002 and scoring his first league goal for the club in the 1–1 away draw with

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

on the following Tuesday. Ward's time with Barrow would be brief as after just a month with the club he signed for

Leigh RMI Leigh Genesis Football Club, formerly known as Horwich Railway Mechanics Institute F.C. (Horwich RMI) and Leigh Railway Mechanics Institute F.C. (Leigh RMI), is an English amateur association football club that currently plays in the South Lancas ...

. After making his debut in the 1–0 away defeat to

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

on 21 September 2002, Ward notched his only league goal for Leigh in the 2–1 home victory over

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

on 12 October.

Lincoln City

In October 2002, Ward returned to

signing for Lincoln City where he linked up with sometime Lancaster City teammate Mark Bailey. He made his Football League debut for the club as a 74th-minute replacement for

Adie Mike Adrian Roosevelt Mike (born 16 November 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1992 to 2004. He notably played in the Premier League for Manchester City, and in the Football League for Bury, Stockport Co ...

in the 0–0 draw at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

on 2 November, and scored his first goal for the club on his full league debut against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

on 4 February 2003, but he struggled to establish himself at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since th ...

and was released at the end of the season.

Return to the non-leagues

He linked up with

then

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is an urban village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". The population was 13,945 at ...

. Moves to Kendal Town and

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire ...

followed. He moved on to

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

, scoring on his debut in the 3–1 home defeat to

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

on 6 January 2007. Teaching commitments caused Ward to miss most of the 2007–08 season but he resumed his Clitheroe career at the start of the 2008–09 season. In November 2008, Ward linked up with his one-time Lancaster City manager Tony Hesketh at

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

, debuting in the 3–1 away defeat to

F.C. Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

on 15 November 2008. Hesketh departed the hot seat at Chorley to return to Lancaster City and Ward was one of five players who followed him from Chorley to the Giant Axe-based club ahead of the 2009–10 season. He marked his return to the club by scoring on his debut in the 5–0 home

Northern Premier League Division One North The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

victory over

Prescot Cables Prescot Cables Football Club is a supporter-owned football club based in Prescot, Merseyside. It was established in 1884 and has also been known as Prescot and Prescot Town. They compete in the and play their home games at Valerie Park. They ...

on 15 August 2009.

References

External links

*
Lincoln City F.C. Official Archive Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Chris 1981 births Living people English footballers Association football forwards Lancaster City F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Southport F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Leigh Genesis F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Bamber Bridge F.C. players Kendal Town F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players Clitheroe F.C. players Chorley F.C. players English Football League players