Nick Ward (born 24 March 1985) is an Australian

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player, who plays as a midfielder for

Pascoe Vale FC Pascoe Vale Football Club (formerly Pascoe Vale Soccer Club) is a football club from Pascoe Vale, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was established in 1966, and the Rams currently compete in the Victorian NPL ...

in the

National Premier League The National Premier League, also known for sponsorship purposes as the Red Stripe Premier League, is sanctioned by the Jamaican Football Federation as the top division for men's association football in Jamaica. Contested between 12 clubs, it op ...

Club career

His efforts in the inaugural A-League season of 2005–06 resulted in him becoming the first player to win the A-League's Rising Star Award with

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

, along with also winning the Perth Supporter's Player of the Year, and also the Smokefree WA Coach's Award. Following the end of the first A-League season, Nick Ward had trials with

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 ...

and

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 ...

however, much to the disappointment of

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

, he joined Queens Park Rangers in the English Championship prior to the 2006–07 season. On 31 January 2007, the last day of the

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, Ward joined

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2006–07 season. On 17 February 2007, Ward scored his first goal for the

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

in their 2–1 home win over

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 ...

before returning to Queens Park Rangers. On 4 December 2007, Ward's contract with Queens Park Rangers was terminated by mutual consent. He joined Melbourne Victory before further signing on as the Victory's youth marquee in a two-year deal. On 11 January 2008, Ward scored his first goal for the Melbourne Victory in their 3–0 home win over

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

. On 1 September 2010, it was announced that Ward had signed with the Wellington Phoenix for the remainder of the 2010/11 A-League season. On 11 September 2010, against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

, he scored his only goal for the Phoenix, a wonderful shot into the top right hand corner from outside the 18-yard box. Following the season, Ward was released from the Phoenix. Months after joining

Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnasticos Syllogos Iraklis ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής, en, Gymnastics Club Heracles), commonly referred to as Iraklis, is a Greek multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki. The club was founded in 1908 as "Mace ...

, Ward returned to the

after the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

team was relegated to the amateur divisions. Ward said, "I am delighted

Ricki Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

wanted me back and everything has fallen into place. Ward rejoined

for the 2012/13 Hyundai A-League Season, scoring his first goal since returning in the club's 3–2 win over the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

on 3 November 2012. He scored his second goal for the club against the Western Sydney Wanderers in the 87th minute, which finished in a 1–1 draw. Ward, along with teammates

Evan Berger Evan James Berger (born 16 August 1987) is a former Australian footballer who last played for Marconi Stallions. Club career Early career He has been involved in football since he was young, playing for the Burragorang District soccer club. ...

Dean Heffernan Dean James Heffernan (born 19 May 1980) is a former professional football (soccer) player. Club career With the Central Coast Mariners he scored 8 goals from left back in 24 games and was subsequently named in FourFourTwo's A-League dream team. ...

and Lewis Italiano were released by the Glory at the end of the 2012–13 A-League season. Ward unsuccessfully played a trial game for the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

during the 2013–14 pre-season. Ward signed with

as injury cover at the end of December 2013. On 28 February 2015, Ward signed with

, making his debut in a 3–0 loss to Melbourne Victory, and unfortunately for Ward, suffering an

Anterior Cruciate Ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

tear. Ward returned to football in June 2017, signing with

National Premier Leagues Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer leagu ...

side

Bentleigh Greens Bentleigh Greens Soccer Club is an Australian semi professional soccer club based in Cheltenham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1986, by the Greek Cypriot community and currently competes in the National Premier Leagues ...

. In 2018, he moved to Indian

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

side NEROCA, and appeared in two league matches.

International career

After his season had concluded with Perth Glory, Ward was selected by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in an extended squad for its opening

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

qualifier with

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. Ward was named on the bench, but did not play on the field. In December 2006 the then Socceroos manager

Graham Arnold Graham James Arnold (born 3 August 1963) is an Australian soccer manager and former player. Arnold was appointed to work as an assistant coach of the Australian national soccer team in 2000. After head coach Frank Farina was sacked in 2005, Ar ...

believed that Ward (lacking game time under the management of Queens Park Rangers at the time) should be playing continental European competitions (e.g. Belgium, Netherlands), where there was (in Arnold's opinion) better ball delivery and midfield play than in the English Championship. Those comments could be interpreted as a preliminary reason not to select Ward in forthcoming

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

friendlies at the time. Ward's absence from more recent squads could be attributed to his lack playing minutes at Melbourne Victory (due to injuries and club coach Ernie Merrick's preference for more experienced players in his positions) and the success of other similar young players in transitioning their career to European clubs (including

Nick Carle Nicholas Alberto Carle (born 23 November 1981 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian retired football (soccer) attacking midfielder who played for Sydney Olympic, Troyes AC, Marconi Stallions, Newcastle Jets, Gençlerbirliği, Bristol City, Cr ...

Dario Vidosic Dario is a masculine given name, etymologically related to Darius. Given name *Dario Allevi (born 1965), Italian politician *Dario Argento (born 1940), Italian film director * Dario Badinelli (born 1946), Italian triple jumper *Dario Bellezza (1 ...

Nikita Rukavytsya Nikita Vadymovych Rukavytsya ( ; uk, Микита Вадимович Рукавиця, translit=Mykyta Vadymovych Rukavytsya; born 22 June 1987) is a professional footballer who plays for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Haifa. Born in Ukrai ...

and

Brett Holman Brett Trevor Holman (born 27 March 1984) is a former Australian professional footballer who last played for Brisbane Roar in the A-League as an attacking midfielder. Born in Sydney, Holman played youth football for Northern Spirit before maki ...

). His exclusion from the Olyroos squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was a major disappointment especially after being a regular squad member under coach Rob Baan in Australia's qualification path.

Club career statistics

Honours

With

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

: *

A-League Championship A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...

: 2008–2009 * A-League Premiership: 2008–2009 With

: * NSL Championship: 2003–2004 Personal honours: *

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

Young Player of the Year: 2005–2006 *

Member's Player of the Year: 2005–2006

References

External links

Melbourne Victory profile

FFA – Olyroo profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Nick 1985 births Living people Soccer players from Perth, Western Australia Australian soccer players Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England A-League Men players English Football League players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Melbourne Victory FC players Perth Glory FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Bentleigh Greens SC players National Soccer League (Australia) players Articles containing video clips NEROCA FC players I-League 2nd Division players Association football midfielders