From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Gavin Ward (footballer)

English football player and coach (born 1970)

Summary

English football player and coach (born 1970)

Field	Value
name	Gavin Ward
image	Gavin Ward 05042025 (3).jpg
caption	Ward in 2025.
fullname	Gavin John Ward
birth_date
birth_place	Sutton Coldfield, England
height	1.91 m
position	Goalkeeper
currentclub	Cardiff City (goalkeeping coach)
youthyears1	1985–1987
youthclubs1	Aston Villa
years1	1987–1988
clubs1	Aston Villa
caps1	0
goals1	0
years2	1988–1989
clubs2	Shrewsbury Town
caps2	0
goals2	0
years3	1989
clubs3	West Bromwich Albion
caps3	0
goals3	0
years4	1989–1993
clubs4	Cardiff City
caps4	59
goals4	0
years5	1993–1995
clubs5	Leicester City
caps5	38
goals5	0
years6	1995–1996
clubs6	Bradford City
caps6	36
goals6	0
years7	1996–1999
clubs7	Bolton Wanderers
caps7	22
goals7	0
years8	1998
clubs8	→ Burnley (loan)
caps8	17
goals8	0
years9	1999–2002
clubs9	Stoke City
caps9	79
goals9	0
years10	2002–2003
clubs10	Walsall
caps10	7
goals10	0
years11	2003–2004
clubs11	Coventry City
caps11	12
goals11	0
years12	2004
clubs12	→ Barnsley (loan)
caps12	1
goals12	0
years13	2004–2006
clubs13	Preston North End
caps13	7
goals13	0
years14	2006–2007
clubs14	Tranmere Rovers
caps14	38
goals14	1
years15	2007–2008
clubs15	Chester City
caps15	0
goals15	0
years16	2008–2009
clubs16	Wrexham
caps16	54
goals16	0
years17	2009
clubs17	Hednesford Town
years18	2009–2011
clubs18	Gainsborough Trinity
caps18	7
goals18	0
years19	2012–2013
clubs19	Shrewsbury Town
caps19	0
goals19	0
totalcaps	377
totalgoals	1
manageryears1	2009–2011
managerclubs1	Gainsborough Trinity (assistant)
manageryears2	2011–2013
managerclubs2	Shrewsbury Town (goalkeeping coach)
manageryears3	2013–2014
managerclubs3	Nottingham Forest (goalkeeping coach)
manageryears4	2014–2016
managerclubs4	Burton Albion (goalkeeping coach)
manageryears5	2016–2024
managerclubs5	Queens Park Rangers (goalkeeping coach)
manageryears6	2024–
managerclubs6	Cardiff City (goalkeeping coach)

Gavin John Ward (born 30 June 1970) is an English former professional footballer and coach, who is currently interim goalkeeping coach at Championship side Cardiff City.

He played in the position of goalkeeper from 1987 until 2011. He notably played Premier League football for Leicester City as well as playing for Aston Villa, Shrewsbury Town, West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City, Bradford City, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Stoke City, Walsall, Coventry City, Barnsley, Preston North End, Tranmere Rovers, Chester City, Wrexham, Hednesford Town and Gainsborough Trinity.

Playing career

Ward was born in Sutton Coldfield and began his career with Aston Villa before moving on to Shrewsbury Town. He failed to make an appearance for either club and left for West Bromwich Albion where he made his professional debut in a League Cup match against Bradford City. He then moved to Cardiff City where he finally found regular football becoming a regular in the 1991–92 season and helped the "Bluebirds" win the Division Three title in 1992–93.

He made over 60 league and cup appearances for Cardiff in four seasons before moving to Leicester City for a transfer fee of £175,000 in 1993 where he help them to win promotion to the Premier League in 1994. After leaving Leicester he had a short spell at Bradford City before Bolton Wanderers paid £300,000 for his services in 1996, allowing Ward to again taste top-flight action. He spent three seasons at the Reebok Stadium acting as back-up to Keith Branagan. He spent the first half of the 1998–99 season on loan at Burnley before joining Stoke City on a permanent basis in March 1998. He instantly established himself as first choice at the Britannia Stadium and he played in all 60 of the club's fixtures during a hectic 1999–2000 season which saw Stoke win the Football League Trophy and reach the play-offs as Stoke lost controversially to Gillingham. He was second choice at Stoke in 2000–01 and 2001–02 and joined Walsall in the summer of 2002.

After spells at Walsall, Coventry City, Barnsley and Preston North End he joined Tranmere Rovers in June 2006. Ward made a bright start to the 2006–07, even managing to score a goal, which came from a free kick just outside his box in the 9th minute against Leyton Orient on 2 September 2006.

He was released by Tranmere in May 2007 and made the short journey to Chester, where he was backup and coach to John Danby. Ward's only competitive appearance for Chester was as a half-time substitute for the injured Danby against Crewe Alexandra in the Football League Trophy on 4 September 2007, with Chester going on to win a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw. On 8 January 2008, Ward moved to arch-rivals Wrexham on a free transfer. He played in over 50 matches for the club before being released at the end of the 2008–09 season. Ward went on to play for Hednesford Town during the 2008–09 season.

Coaching career

Gainsborough Trinity]] game in January 2010.

Following the appointment of Brian Little as manager of Gainsborough Trinity, Ward was appointed Assistant Manager, as well as signing on as the club's reserve goalkeeper.

Ward retired from playing at the end of the 2010–11 season. On 18 July 2011, he left his post at Gainsborough to become Goalkeeping Coach at Shrewsbury Town. He was registered as a player after second-choice goalkeeper Joe Anyon picked up an injury in October 2012, with Ward taking his place on the bench.

On 4 July 2013, Ward agreed to be Goalkeeping Coach at Nottingham Forest.

On 27 September 2024, Ward agreed to be interim Goalkeeping Coach at Cardiff City following an eight-year stint at Queens Park Rangers.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League	FA Cup	League Cup	Other	Total	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aston Villa	1987–88	Second Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shrewsbury Town	1988–89	Second Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	West Bromwich Albion	1989–90	Second Division	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Cardiff City	1989–90	Third Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4	0
1990–91	Fourth Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1991–92	Fourth Division	24	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	26	0
1992–93	Third Division	32	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	35	0
Leicester City	1993–94	First Division	32	0	0	0	3	0	4	0	39	0
1994–95	Premier League	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Bradford City	1995–96	Second Division	36	0	3	0	6	0	1	0	46	0
Bolton Wanderers	1995–96	Premier League	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
1996–97	First Division	11	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	15	0
1997–98	Premier League	6	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
Burnley (loan)	1998–99	Second Division	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	0
Stoke City	1998–99	Second Division	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
1999–2000	Second Division	46	0	1	0	4	0	9	0	60	0
2000–01	Second Division	17	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	22	0
2001–02	Second Division	10	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	12	0
Walsall	2002–03	First Division	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Coventry City	2003–04	First Division	12	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	15	0
Barnsley (loan)	2003–04	Second Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Preston North End	2004–05	Championship	7	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
2005–06	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tranmere Rovers	2006–07	League One	38	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	41	1
Chester City	2007–08	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Wrexham	2007–08	League Two	22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
2008–09	Conference Premier	32	0	0	0	—	3	0	35	0

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup, Football League play-offs and Football League Trophy.

Honours

Cardiff City

Football League Third Division: 1992–93

[Welsh Cup winner] 1992-93](welsh-cup-winner-1992-93)

Bolton Wanderers

Football League First Division: 1996–97

Leicester City

Football League First Division play-offs: 1994

Stoke City

Football League Trophy: 1999–2000

References

{{WorldFootball.net
"Gavin Ward". Soccerbase.
"The history of Leicester City Football club". Leicester City F.C..
(3 September 2006). "Ward Shocked to Score". Sky Sports.
(2 July 2007). "Ward Makes Chester Move". Sky Sports.
(8 January 2008). "Keeper Ward agrees Wrexham move". BBC Sport.
(28 April 2009). "Saunders begins Wrexham revamp". BBC Sport.
(16 December 2009). "Gainsborough appoint Gavin Ward as assistant manager". BBC Sport.
"Town job bringing career full circle for nomadic goalkeeper". Shrewsbury Chronicle.
"Portsmouth 3-1 Shrewsbury". BBC Sport.
{{ENFA
Sidaway, Jon. (7 December 2017). "Stoke City FC - Looking Back Down 'Wembley Way'".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1970-births living-people men's-association-football-goalkeepers english-men's-footballers premier-league-players aston-villa-f.c.-players shrewsbury-town-f.c.-players cardiff-city-f.c.-players west-bromwich-albion-f.c.-players leicester-city-f.c.-players bradford-city-a.f.c.-players bolton-wanderers-f.c.-players burnley-f.c.-players stoke-city-f.c.-players walsall-f.c.-players coventry-city-f.c.-players barnsley-f.c.-players preston-north-end-f.c.-players tranmere-rovers-f.c.-players chester-city-f.c.-players wrexham-a.f.c.-players gainsborough-trinity-f.c.-players shrewsbury-town-f.c.-non-playing-staff nottingham-forest-f.c.-non-playing-staff burton-albion-f.c.-non-playing-staff queens-park-rangers-f.c.-non-playing-staff english-football-league-players footballers-from-sutton-coldfield national-league-(english-football)-players hednesford-town-f.c.-players

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Gavin Ward (footballer) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report