Paul David Ware (7 November 1970 – 17 April 2013) was 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 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

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 ...

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, Stockport County and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. Ware began his career with local side

making his debut in 1987–88. He became a popular player amongst the Stoke support and scored the winning goal against Peterborough United to see Stoke through to the

1992 Football League Trophy Final The 1992 Associate Members' Cup Final, known as the Autoglass Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 9th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from the Third Division and Fourth Division. The final was played at Wembley Stadi ...

where they beat Stockport County 1–0. Ware played a major role in 1992–93 which saw Stoke win the Second Division title before he was sold to Stockport County in September 1994. Ware then went on to play for

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

before ending his playing career with a return to Hednesford. After his playing career had ended he battled against a

brain tumour A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondary ...

and he died on 17 April 2013 aged 42. In 2018 a street was named in his honour on the Victoria Park housing development built on the former Stoke City Football Ground.

Career

Ware was born in

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Top ...

and started his career in

's youth team before being handed a professional contract in 1987. He made his debut against Shrewsbury Town on the final day of the 1987–88 season. He played 15 times in 1988–89 scoring in a 1–0 victory away at

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

. In 1989–90 Ware played in 19 matches as Stoke suffered relegation to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

and the 1990–91 season saw Stoke finish in their lowest league position with Ware playing in 40 matches. Stoke's fortunes began to improve under new manager

Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenny ...

and Ware scored the winning goal against Peterborough United in the area final of 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 Leag ...

sending Stoke through to play Stockport County at Wembley. Unfortunately for Ware, he missed the final due to injury as Stoke won 1–0. He played in 35 matches in 1992–93 as Stoke gained promotion back to the second tier. He then joined Stockport County in September 1994 and spent three years at Edgeley Park which ended with him helping the club gain promotion in 1996–97. He spent time out on loan at

and then spent two seasons at non-league

before joining

. He then played on loan for

and ended his professional career with

before making a return to Hednesford Town.

Death

In 2012 Ware had an operation to remove a brain tumour. He died in the early morning on 17 April 2013 after his health deteriorated having previously been in

remission Remission often refers to: *Forgiveness Remission may also refer to: Healthcare and science *Remission (medicine), the state of absence of disease activity in patients with a chronic illness, with the possibility of return of disease activity *R ...

. As part of the redevelopment of the Former Victoria Ground, Victoria Park in Stoke has a street named in his honour.

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

and Full Members Cup.

Honours

; Stoke City *

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

champions: 1992–93 *

winner:

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

; Stockport County *

runner-up: 1996–97

References

External links

*
Paul Ware tribute
in

the Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

Paul Ware tribute
at Draw For Me The Boothen * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ware, Paul People from Congleton English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players English Football League players 1970 births 2013 deaths Deaths from brain cancer in England National League (English football) players Footballers from Cheshire Men's association football midfielders