Player Profile – Elliott Ward
Elliott Leslie Ward was born in Harrow on 19 January 1985. He came through the youth system with West Ham and joined Peterborough for a month in July 2004 but didn’t make an appearance. Following his return to Upton Park he made his Hammers debut in a 2-0 League Cup victory over Southend on 24 August 2004. In December 2004 he joined Bristol Rovers on a month’s loan and made 3 substitute appearances.
Ward return to West Ham and made his Championship debut in a 3-1 defeat at Reading on 12 March 2005. He remained in the side following to injuries to more established defenders such as Christian Dailly and Malky Mackay to partner Anton Ferdinand in the centre of defence. Ward played in the Play Off final as the Hammers beat Preston 1-0 on 30 May 2005.
West Ham signed a number of players, including central defenders Danny Gabbidon and James Collins from Cardiff. Gabbidon became the preferred choice to partner Ferdinand and so after one Premier League and two League cup ties in 2005/06, Ward joined Plymouth on loan in November 2005. He made 16 league appearances for the Pilgrims and scored his first league goal in a 1-1 draw at Wolves on New Years Eve 2005.
On return to West Ham Ward played a further 3 Premier League matches with his eighteenth and final match was a 1-0 win at West Brom on 1 May 2006.
On 16 June 2006 Coventry boss Micky Adams signed Ward for a fee of £1m on a four year deal. This was the first £1m player signed by Coverntry for five years. His debut was in a 2-1 victory over Sunderland on 6 August 2006 and scored his first goal for the Sky Blues on his seventh league appearance in a 2-1 defeat at Ipswich. Ward was made captain in the first season with the club and scored 3 goals from 39 appearances during the season as Coventry finished 17th in the Championship.
The 2007/08 Ward made 37 league appearances and became the club’s penalty taker, helping him to score 6 league goals. This included a brace of penalties in a 5-1 win at Colchester on 19 April 2008. Coventry just avoided relegation by one place and one point.
Ward made a further 33 appearances and 5 goals for Coventry in 2008/09. Ward netted 14 goals from 116 appearances for Coventry and made his last appearance for the club in a 1-0 win at Plymouth on 19 December 2009.
Prior to being released at the end of the 2009/10 season, Ward joined Doncaster on a month’s loan on 16 February 2010 as injuries had left Doncaster with only one fit centre-half. On the same day he scored on debut with a spectacular overhead kick in a 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday, Ward made 6 appearances for the Dons.
Six days after the month’s loan was up Ward joined Preston on loan on 22 March and made his debut in a 2-2 draw at Deepdale on 27 March. He made 4 appearances for the Lilywhites with his final game being the 1-0 defeat to Leicester on 24 April.
On 26 May 2010 it was announced that Ward had signed a two year deal with Norwich on a free transfer. His Norwich debut came on 6 August 2010 in the opening game of the 2010/11 season in a 3-2 home defeat to Watford. Ward picked up his first man of the match award at the club in the 2–0 win over Swansea on 21 August 2010. Ward picked up an injury in the 2–1 away win over former club Coventry on 18 December, sidelining him until the end of January. He made his return to the team in the 2–1 win over Millwall on 1 February 2011, scoring his first goal for the club to equalise.
Ward played 39 of a possible 46 league games in the Norwich side which won promotion to the Premier League in 2010/11 season but in July 2011, during a pre-season tour of Germany, Ward picked up a knee injury which kept him out of action until January 2012
In the 2012/13 season he played in the 1-0 Carling Cup win over Doncaster on 26 September. A month later Ward joined Nottingham Forest on loan until 29 December 2012, with a view to a permanent transfer. His debut was a 4-1 victory at Barnsley a day later. Ward returned to Norwich at the end of his loan spell after 12 matches. He was named as a substitute for their FA Cup game away at Peterborough.
However on 10 January 2013, he returned on loan with Nottingham Forest. His first Forest goal came in his first game of his second loan spell, on 12 January 2013. His headed goal in the 83rd minute from a Radosław Majewski cross saw Forest 2-1 winners against Peterborough giving manager Alex McLeish his first win as Forest manager. In his second spell for Forest he netted 3 goals in 19 appearances and scored in the 3-2 home defeat to Leicester on 4 May.
After one goal in 51 league appearances Ward signed an initial one-year deal with Bournemouth following their promotion to the Championship on 18 June 2013. His debut was a 2-1 win over Charlton on 3 August 2013 and received a red card after two yellows in a 2-1 defeat at Leicester on 26 October. In total Ward made 23 appearances during the 2013/14 campaign.
His only match he has appeared in 2014/15 is a 2-0 win at Exeter in the Capital One Cup on 12 August.