Darren Ward (footballer, born 1978)

Darren Philip Ward (born 13 September 1978) is an English former professional footballer who last played for Hemel Hempstead Town. Ward has played for all three major South London teams, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace and Millwall. He also played for and was briefly joint caretaker manager at Swindon Town.

For the Welsh retired goalkeeper, see Darren Ward (footballer born 1974).
For other people named Darren Ward, see Darren Ward (disambiguation).

Darren Ward
Personal information
Full name Darren Philip Ward
Date of birth (1978-09-13) 13 September 1978
Place of birth Kenton, Harrow, Middlesex, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s) Centre back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2001 Watford 58 (1)
1999–2000 → Queens Park Rangers (loan) 14 (0)
2001–2005 Millwall 142 (4)
2005–2007 Crystal Palace 63 (5)
2007–2010 Wolverhampton Wanderers 31 (0)
2008 → Watford (loan) 9 (1)
2009 → Charlton Athletic (loan) 16 (0)
2009 → Millwall (loan) 9 (0)
2010–2013 Millwall 87 (2)
2012–2013 → Swindon Town (loan) 17 (1)
2013–2015 Swindon Town 58 (1)
2015 → Crawley Town (loan) 18 (1)
2015–2017 Yeovil Town 34 (4)
2018–2019 Hemel Hempstead Town 47 (1)
Total 603 (21)
Managerial career
2013 Swindon Town (joint caretaker manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Born in Kenton, a district of Harrow, Ward started his career at Watford, making his debut on 20 April 1996 against arch-rivals Luton. But opportunities were scant for Ward in the next few seasons – he made eight appearances in 1996–97 and, after suffering a badly broken leg, only one appearance in each of the following two seasons.

Ward was loaned out to Q.P.R., in the 1999–2000 season, playing fifteen games, and was generally impressive. On his return to Watford he became one of their first-team centre-halves, playing against teams like Manchester United and Arsenal in the club's final two months in the Premier League and scoring in a 1–1 draw with Middlesbrough.[1] On their return to Division 1, Ward continued to be a first team regular, making 40 appearances in 2000–01.

Gianluca Vialli's arrival at Vicarage Road in the summer of 2001 saw a considerable re-modelling of the side, and Ward was one of the casualties. He moved to Millwall in October 2001 for £500,000 where he became a regular first team player, and was nicknamed 'The Peckham Beckham', due to the fact that his haircut is similar to that of former England captain David Beckham. At The New Den, Ward and Matthew Lawrence stood out at the central defensive position, as the Lions played in the 2004 FA Cup Final, against Manchester United. Ward played the full 90 minutes, as Millwall were beaten 3–0.

In May 2005 he moved across south-London to Crystal Palace for £1.1m, signing a three-year deal. Ward initially did well and his goalscoring form made him very popular, but by the end of his first season this good form disappeared, and by May 2007 he was out of the side, with Mark Hudson and Leon Cort preferred instead.

In July 2007, Ward joined Wolves on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee however it was announced in May 2008 that he would be one of many casualties leaving the club, after spending less than a year there.[2] However, after showing a positive attitude, Ward was taken off the transfer list and told to fight for his place.

He went on a two-month loan to Watford in September 2008, the club where he began his career,[3] but this was halted after nine appearances when he suffered a cheekbone fracture.[4] He scored once during his second spell at Watford, in a 3–0 win over QPR.[5]

He joined Charlton Athletic on loan for the remainder of the 2008–09 season on 30 January 2009, but was unable to prevent the team being relegated to League One. He returned to his parent club in the summer, who loaned him out again in September 2009, this time to his former team Millwall on a three-month loan,[6] made permanent on 1 January 2010.[7] He signed a three-year contract extension with Millwall in June 2010.[8]

Swindon Town

Ward signed permanently for Swindon Town on 4 January 2013, after a successful loan spell. He signed a four-month loan deal at the beginning of the 2012–13 season until January which resulted in signing the 18-month deal.

On 20 February, following the departure of Paolo Di Canio, Swindon announced that along with Tommy Miller, Ward would be taking temporary charge of the squad for the game against Preston on 23 February.

Crawley Town (loan)

On 8 January 2015, it was announced that Ward would be joining Crawley Town on loan from Swindon Town until the end of the 2014–15 season. Ward had made 499 career appearances, and has said that he wants to make it to the 600 mark.[9] He scored his first goal for Crawley in a 2–0 win over Notts County on 18 April 2015.[10]

Yeovil Town

On 8 November 2015, Ward signed for Yeovil Town on a short-term contract until January 2016.[11] After being made captain of Yeovil following the appointment of Darren Way as manager, Ward signed an extension to his contract until June 2017.[12] At the end of the 2016–17 season, Ward was released by Yeovil along with five other players.[13]

Hemel Hempstead Town

In February 2018, Ward signed for National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town.[14]

Personal life

Darren is the brother of ex-Luton Town goalkeeper Scott Ward and Notts County's ex-West Ham United defender Elliott Ward. He turned down the opportunity of joining West Ham and the Premiership before opting for Palace, claiming he didn't want to keep his brother out of the team.[15]

As of February 2011, he runs a cattery in Hertfordshire.[16]

Career statistics
As of 6 March 2018.[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Watford 1995–96 First Division 000000—00
1996–97 Second Division 7010000080
1997–98 Second Division 0000001[lower-alpha 1]010
1998–99 First Division 1000000010
1999–2000 Premier League 900000—90
2000–01 First Division 4011051—462
2001–02 First Division 100010—20
Total 581206110672
Queens Park Rangers (loan) 1999–2000 First Division 1401000—150
Millwall 2001–02 First Division 14010002[lower-alpha 2]0170
2002–03 First Division 3914010—441
2003–04 First Division 4637010—543
2004–05 Championship 43000102[lower-alpha 3]0460
Total 142412030401614
Crystal Palace 2005–06 Championship 43521001[lower-alpha 4]0466
2006–07 Championship 2002010—230
Total 635411010696
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2007–08 Championship 3002000—320
2008–09 Championship 100010—20
2009–10 Premier League 000000—00
Total 3102010—330
Watford (loan) 2008–09 Championship 910000—91
Charlton Athletic (loan) 2008–09 Championship 1600000—160
Millwall (loan) 2009–10 League One 90100000100
Millwall 251100000261
2010–11 Championship 3111030—351
2011–12 Championship 3004020—360
2012–13 Championship 100011—21
Total 9627061001093
Swindon Town (loan) 2012–13 League One 17110001[lower-alpha 1]0191
Swindon Town 22100002[lower-alpha 5]0241
2013–14 League One 36010305[lower-alpha 1]0450
2014–15 League One 0000000000
Total 752203080882
Crawley Town (loan) 2014–15 League One 181000000181
Yeovil Town 2015–16 League Two 18130002[lower-alpha 1]0231
2016–17 League Two 163200000183
Total 344500020414
Hemel Hempstead Town 2017–18 National League South 4100—0041
Career total 5602135120216063124
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in First Division play-offs
  3. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  4. Appearance in Championship play-offs
  5. Appearances in League One play-offs

Honours

Club

Millwall

References
  1. Morley, Darren (7 May 2000). "Doomed Watford keep on singing". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  2. "Wolves have end-of-term clear-out". BBC Sport. 9 May 2008.
  3. "Loan pair to extend Watford stay". BBC Sport. 29 October 2008.
  4. "Mackay angry after Ward is sent to hospital with suspected fractured cheek bone". Watford Observer. 25 November 2008.
  5. "Watford 3–0 QPR". BBC. 22 November 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  6. "Ward into The Lions Den". wolves.co.uk. 11 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 November 2009.
  7. "Millwall sign Wolves defender Ward permanently". BBC Sport. 1 January 2010.
  8. "Millwall defender Darren Ward signs new deal". BBC Sport. 10 June 2010.
  9. "Darren Ward signs for Crawley on loan". The Argus. Brighton. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  10. "Crawley 2–0 Notts County". BBC Sport. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  11. "Darren Ward: Yeovil Town sign veteran defender". BBC Sport. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  12. "Darren Ward signs new contract at Yeovil Town". Yeovil Town F.C. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  13. "Tom Eaves: Yeovil Town forward among six released by League Two club". BBC Sport. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  14. "Two More Added To Hemel Squad". Non-league Pitchero. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  15. "Quotes of the week". BBC Sport. 23 August 2005.
  16. "The Millwall footballer who runs a cattery". BBC Sport. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  17. "Darren Ward stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  18. "Glory Glory Man United". The FA. 22 May 2004. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
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