Ashley Ward

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Ashley Ward
Personal information
Full name	Ashley Stuart Ward
Date of birth	November 24, 1970 (1970-11-24) (age 37)
Place of birth	Middleton, Manchester, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Forward
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
198?–1989 1989–1991 1991 1991–1992 1992 1992–1994 1994–1996 1996–1997 1997–1998 1998–2000 2000–2003 2003–2005	Cheadle Town Manchester City → Wrexham (loan) Leicester City → Blackpool (loan) Crewe Alexandra Norwich City Derby County Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bradford City Sheffield United Total	00? 00(?) 001 00(0) 004 00(2) 010 00(0) 002 00(1) 061 0(25) 053 0(18) 040 00(9) 046 0(20) 054 0(13) 084 0(17) 033 00(5) 388 (110)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Ashley Ward (born November 24, 1970 in Middleton, Manchester) is a retired English footballer. He was a centre forward, noted for his strength and ability to retain control of the ball.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Career 1.2 After retirement 1.3 Personal life 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Biography

Ward was born the son of a coal mining engineer, and raised in Middleton. He attended William Hulme Grammar school, which opted for Rugby and Lacrosse as the school sports over football.^[1]

[edit] Career

Ward played for Cheadle Town Youth, and chose to become an apprentice at Manchester City above an offer from Blackburn Rovers.^[2]

He played for at least a dozen different clubs in a long career, including Crewe Alexandra, where he made his name, Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers and Bradford City. He retired in the summer of 2005.

Ward has been relegated from the Premiership four times, a number only beaten by Nathan Blake and Nigel Quashie who have been relegated five times.

In 1998, in a match at Sunderland Ward scored, missed a penalty and got sent off in the space of five minutes.

[edit] After retirement

Ward and his wife run a number of businesses, including:

• Developing fashion boutique Apparel in Wilmslow. After wanting some trousers altered, Ward's wife returned to find the shop closed. She did a deal with landlord Robert Bilton. Now sold to friend Clare Sudweeks^[3]
• A commercial property business, in partnership with Robert Bilton. The portfolio extends from Manchester to Marbella
• Operating Abafields, a nursing home in Bolton bought for development but now operating under a manager^[4]
• Managing a £15million luxury property development company Bilton Ward Developments. Developed with business partner Robert Bilton,^[5][6] he has now been bought out by the Wards.^[7] Formed in 2002 the company specialises in the building and renovation of luxury homes, many for footballers' including those of Kevin Campbell and Wayne Rooney.^[8] Interior design is often done by former "Changing Rooms" designer Laura McCree.

[edit] Personal life

Ward is married to former model Dawn. Born in Salford, she is a former school friend of Ryan Giggs. Ward proposed to her in the car park of the pub where she worked when they first met.^[9][10] The couple have two daughters Darby and Taylor,^[11] and used to live in Mill Lane, Mottram St. Andrew.^[12] The Wards now live in Great Warford where they have made extensive alterations to a large Victorian house. On 18 April 2008 they were turned down by the planning authorities in relation to an application for a second drive. Local residents had expressed deep concerns with the Wards' plans to develop Green-belt land unnecessarily.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
• Ashley Ward career stats at Soccerbase
• Bilton Ward Developments