David Ward (16 July 1934 – 12 January 1996) was a Welsh former professional

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 ...

and Wales international. During his career in The Football League, he averaged a goal every other game, scoring 160 goals in 316 matches between 1954 and 1965.

Career

Ward began his career at his hometown side

Barry Town Barry Town United Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Tref Y Barri) is a semi-professional association football team based in Barry, Wales. They are known for representing Wales in Europe as winners of the Cymru Premier and Welsh Cup during ...

and his eight goals in five appearances during the 1951–52

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and

Welsh League The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales.Lush (1998), pg. 19 Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournamen ...

seasons led a number of teams to take an interest in him. He eventually signed for Bristol Rovers but it was a number of years before he managed to hold down a regular place in the side due to the presence of one of the club's all-time greats in Geoff Bradford. Eventually handed a chance in the side he responded by scoring nine times in his first eight games. His most prolific season for the club was in 1958–59 when he finished the season with 27 goals in 38 matches. It was this form that resulted in him earning his first cap for Wales in a 2–2 draw with England on 26 November 1958 in the

1959 British Home Championship Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of ...

. Ward's spell at the club turned sour when he fell out with manager

Bert Tann Bertram James Tann (4 May 1914 – 7 July 1972) was a professional footballer and later football manager, who is best known for managing Bristol Rovers for a spell of 18 years from 1950 to 1968. He is the longest-serving post-war manager of Bri ...

and began a bitter battle to leave the club, even at one time threatening to quit football entirely unless he was allowed to leave. He left the club in February 1961 to return to his home country to sign for

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. In his first full season at the club he finished as the top scorer with 17 goals and was handed his second Wales cap in a 1–1 draw with England on 14 October 1961. However his efforts could not stop the club being relegated from Division One and the following season he fell out of favour and was allowed to join Watford, where he spent one year before finishing his professional career at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. Dai went on to play for

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

, Bath City, Cambridge United and Cambridge City. He also was assistant manager at Histon in 1983 where his son, also a David, was a member of the squad.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Dai 1934 births 1996 deaths Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Barry Town United F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Bath City F.C. players English Football League players Sportspeople from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan Association football forwards Southern Football League players