Joel Edward Philip Ward (born 29 October 1989) is an English 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 ...

who plays as a defender for club Crystal Palace. His usual position is

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

but he can also play at left-back,

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, and in midfield.

Club career

Portsmouth

Ward started his footballing career with local youth team East Lodge and signed a professional contract with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in July 2008 after spending two years in the Academy and Reserves.

AFC Bournemouth (loan)

The following month, he signed a one-year loan deal with

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

to gain first team experience. Ward soon made his debut in a League Cup match against

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 ...

on 12 August, playing the full 90 minutes as Cardiff ran out 2–1 winners. His

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

debut came later that week on 16 August 2008 in an away draw with Aldershot Town. As the season progressed, Ward continued to appear in defence for the ''Cherries'' and he gained the first yellow and red cards of his career on 18 October in a 4–1 away defeat to Shrewsbury Town, eventually being sent off for two bookable offences. However, his form meant that he returned to the side soon afterwards, making his

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 Leag ...

and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

debuts: a home defeat by Colchester United and a home win against Bristol Rovers on 4 and 8 November respectively. He scored his first and only Bournemouth goal in a 4–0 win over

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

on 2 May 2009.

Return to Portsmouth

On 26 August 2009, Ward made his Portsmouth debut as a centre-back against

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

in the League Cup, before making his

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 Foo ...

debut on 14 April 2010 against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, playing from start to finish at left-back as the game finished goalless. Ward played in most of ''Pompeys remaining league matches that season and remained at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...

in the summer even after they were relegated to the Championship. He began the new season as first-choice right-back, but later lost his starting berth to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

loanee

Greg Halford Gregory Halford (born 8 December 1984) is an English semi-professional and former professional footballer who plays for Isthmian League North Division club Hashtag United. He is naturally a right-back or centre-back but can play in numerous pos ...

. Ward scored his first Portsmouth goal in a 3–2 defeat to Doncaster Rovers on 13 November 2010. Starting with their 2–0 away victory over Doncaster Rovers on 12 February 2011, a game in which he scored, Ward played as an attacking midfielder in Portsmouth's new 4–2–3–1 formation and earned praise from manager Steve Cotterill who was quoted as saying: "Joel Ward has got great energy and did well in that role in the centre in midfield in behind the striker." On 18 December 2011, Ward scored the equaliser in the South Coast derby against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

which finished 1–1.

Crystal Palace

On 28 May 2012, Ward completed his move to Crystal Palace for £400,000 on a four-year deal. He made his debut on 14 August 2012, in a 2–1 win against Exeter City in the League Cup. He made his league debut four days later in a home game against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. He won promotion with Crystal Palace after clearing a shot off the line during the last minute of injury time against the same opponents in the 2013 Championship play-off final. Ward scored his first goal for Crystal Palace in a 3–1 home win against Queens Park Rangers on 14 March 2015. On 15 April 2015, Ward signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract, keeping him at the Selhurst Park side until the summer of 2018. As of May 2016, Ward currently holds the record for most

appearances for a Crystal Palace player. He reached the hundred milestone in a 1–1 draw away to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 17 April 2016. On 2 July 2018, Ward signed a new three-year deal, which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2021. In July 2021, Ward signed a two-year contract extension, until 2023.

Personal life

Ward is currently involved with helping and supporting local charity Faith and Football, which was set up by former ''Pompey'' defender

Linvoy Primus Linvoy Stephen Primus MBE (born 14 September 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in Forest Gate, England, to Caribbean-born parents, Primus began his professional career at Charlton Athletic, whe ...

. He attended the Bourne Community College in Southbourne and

Bishop Luffa School Bishop Luffa School, named after a former Bishop of Chichester, Ralph de Luffa, is a co-educational Church of England secondary school located in Chichester, West Sussex, England. The number of enrolled pupils was around 1,400 in 2010, in eight ...

in Chichester. Ward is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and kneels down on the pitch to pray before each match. On 20 April 2014, Ward returned to his home church for an interview about how he brings his Christian faith to his job as a footballer. He currently resides in London.

Position versatility

Ward operated mainly as a central defender at the start of his professional career. He proved his versatility in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season with Steve Cotterill deploying him as a right-back at the start of the season, and also played him as a central midfielder, right midfielder and as an attacking midfielder. Whilst at Palace, he has often filled in at left back, most notably in the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons.

Career statistics

Honours

Crystal Palace *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

runner-up: 2015–16

References

External links

Joel Ward profile
at Crystal Palace

a
AFCB.co.uk
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Joel 1989 births Living people People from Emsworth English footballers Association football defenders Portsmouth F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Crystal Palace F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players English Christians People educated at Bishop Luffa School FA Cup Final players