Player Profile

After fellow Bolton player Tope Obadeyi's loan spell ran out in November 2009, manager Danny Wilson was quick to return to the Reebok Stadium, this time to sign youngster Ward on an initial one month deal. After making his debut as a late substitute in a 3-2 win over Leyton Orient, Ward spent the majority of his first month on the bench, until an injury to Alan O'Brien in a match against Yeovil over the Christmas period saw Ward thrust into action as a first half substitute, in an unfamiliar role as an attacking left-sided midfielder. Just a minute into the second half, Ward made the points safe with a cool finish for his first senior goal, and when his loan spell was extended to a second month, the following weekend he was rewarded for his good performance with a starting place for the visit to Premier side Fulham in the FA Cup. With his stay extended until the end of the season in early February, over the coming months, Ward made the position his own, becoming an important member of the side chasing promotion to the Championship - adding pace and directness to the Town's attack from midfield - Ward underlining his importance to the side with four goals during a seven game spell shortly after the extension was agreed.

Though knocks to his head and ankle threatened to keep him out of the side during March and April, Ward remained in the side for the rest of the season, and he hit a purple patch at the end of the season - after scoring the Town's second goal in a 3-2 win against Brentford on the penultimate day of the season that kept Swindon in the hunt for automatic promotion, he opened the scoring at Millwall the following weekend with a superb volley that briefly put the Town into the second automatic promotion spot, before Millwall pulled the game back and Leeds won against Bristol Rovers. In the play-offs, Ward went on to score the Town's second goal in the first leg with an excellent finish following a sweeping counter attack, and in the second leg, his anticipation of hesitant Charlton defending allowed him to nip in and score the equalising goal that eventually took the game to penalties - and he went on to find the net in the shootout that sent Swindon to Wembley. Unfortunately, Millwall had Ward well shackled in the final, and he wasn't as effective as in previous weeks - and Ward's loan spell expired with Swindon still in League One after the 1-0 defeat.

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Bradford City Bradford	May 1999 (schoolboy)
Leeds United Leeds United	October 2002 (schoolboy); transferred out (2007)
Bolton Wanderers Bolton	2007 (transferred in, compensation) December 12th, 2008 (signed professional contract); transferred out (July 11th, 2011)
Swindon Town Swindon	November 26th, 2009 (loan); expired (2009/0)
Coventry City Coventry City	September 10th, 2010 (loan); contract terminated (rptd October 15th, 2010)
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town	March 15th, 2011 (loan); expired (2010/1)
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town	July 11th, 2011 (transferred in, undisclosed fee); transferred out (rptd January 12th, 2015)
Rotherham United Rotherham United	January 9th, 2015 (loan)
Rotherham United Rotherham United	rptd January 12th, 2015 (transferred in, undisclosed fee); transferred out (rptd June 23rd, 2017)
Cardiff City Cardiff City	July 1st, 2017 (announced June 23rd, 2017) (transferred in , £1,600,000 plus add-ons); released (2019/0)
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town	August 17th, 2020 (unattached)