Gavin John Ward (born 30 June 1970) is an English 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 ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, who is currently goalkeeping coach at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. He played in the position of

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

from 1987 until 2011. He notably played

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

football for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

as well as playing for Aston Villa,

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, Cardiff City,

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

, Bolton Wanderers,

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, Stoke City,

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

, Barnsley, Preston North End,

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

, Chester City,

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

and

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

Playing career

Ward was born in Sutton Coldfield and began his career with Aston Villa before moving on to

. He failed to make an appearance for either club and left for

where he made his professional debut in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match against

. He then moved to Cardiff City where he finally found regular football becoming a regular in the 1991–92 season and helped the "Bluebirds" win the

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

title in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

. He made over 60 league and cup appearances for Cardiff in four seasons before moving to

for a transfer fee of £175,000 in 1993 where he help them to win promotion to the

in 1994. After leaving Leicester he had a short spell at

before Bolton Wanderers paid £300,000 for his services in 1996, allowing Ward to again taste top-flight action. He spent three seasons at the

Reebok Stadium The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming ri ...

acting as back-up to

Keith Branagan Keith Graham Branagan (born 10 July 1966) is a football coach and former professional player. As a player, he was a goalkeeper who notably played in the Premier League for Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town. He also played in the Football Leag ...

. He spent the first half of the 1998–99 season on loan at

before joining Stoke City on a permanent basis in March 1998. He instantly established himself as first choice 'keeper at the

Britannia Stadium The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as ''bet365 Stadium'') is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was ...

and he played in all the club's 60 fixtures during a hectic 1999–2000 season which saw Stoke win the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

and reach the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

as Stoke lost controversially to Gillingham. He was second choice at Stoke in 2000–01 and 2001–02 and joined

in the summer of 2002. After spells at Walsall,

, Barnsley and Preston North End he joined

in June 2006. Ward made a bright start to the 2006–07, even managing to score a goal, which came from a free kick just outside his box in the 9th minute against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

on 2 September 2006. He was released by Tranmere in May 2007 and made the short journey to Chester' where he was reserve and coach to John Danby. Ward's only competitive appearance for Chester was as a half-time substitute for the injured Danby against Crewe Alexandra in the

on 4 September 2007, with Chester going on to win a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw. On 8 January 2008, Ward moved to arch-rivals

on a free transfer. He played in over 50 matches for the club before being released at the end of the 2008–09 season. Ward went on to play for

during the 2008–09 season.

Coaching career

Following the appointment of Brian Little as manager of

, Ward was appointed Assistant Manager, as well as signing on as the club's reserve goalkeeper. Ward retired from playing at the end of the 2010–11 season. On 18 July 2011, he left his post at Gainsborough to become Goalkeeping Coach at

. He was registered as a player after second-choice goalkeeper

Joe Anyon Joseph Anyon (born 29 December 1986) is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. A youth player at Port Vale, he turned professional at the club in 2004, and was loaned out to non-League sides Stafford Rangers and Harrogate Town to gai ...

picked up an injury in October 2012, with Ward taking his place on the bench. On 4 July 2013, Ward agreed to be Goalkeeping Coach at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup,

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football leagu ...

and

Honours

Cardiff City *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

Champions:

; Bolton Wanderers * Football League First Division champions: 1996–97 ; Leicester City * Football League First Division play-off winners: 1993–94 ; Stoke City *

winners: 1999–2000

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Gavin 1970 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers Premier League players Aston Villa F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. non-playing staff Nottingham Forest F.C. non-playing staff Burton Albion F.C. non-playing staff Queens Park Rangers F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players Footballers from Sutton Coldfield National League (English football) players Hednesford Town F.C. players