Darren Ward (footballer born 1974)

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Darren Ward
Personal information
Full name	Darren Ward
Date of birth	11 May 1974 (1974-05-11) (age 34)
Place of birth	Worksop, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Sunderland
Number	13
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992–1995 1995–2001 2001–2004 2004–2006 2006–	Mansfield Town Notts County Nottingham Forest Norwich City Sunderland	081 (0) 252 (0) 123 (0) 001 (0) 033 (0)
National team2
2000–	Wales	005 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:39,5 January 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 27/08/06. * Appearances (Goals)

Darren Ward (born 11 May 1974 in Worksop) is a Welsh professional football goalkeeper currently playing for Sunderland.

Ward began his professional career with Mansfield Town before moving to Notts County, then local rivals Nottingham Forest.

He joined Norwich in July 2004 from Nottingham Forest, looking to gain experience in the Premier League. He had limited chances to make the number 1 jersey his due to the consistently high performances of Robert Green. Reserve games and the substitute bench were the only games Ward encountered, with the exception of the away fixture at Charlton Athletic in 2004-2005, during Norwich's relegation bound season in the Premiership.

He was released at the end of the 2005/06 season as he did not sign a new contract at the club, and on August 4, 2006 he signed a contract at Sunderland. He made his debut for the side on 17 October 2006 in a 2-1 defeat at Stoke City. After taking over the number 1 spot from teenager Ben Alnwick, he impressed between the sticks throughout the season, even making an outstanding save against Southampton which was later described as being in the style of Gordon Banks by opposition manager George Burley.

In December 2007, Darren Ward made his Premiership debut with Sunderland, keeping a clean sheet as his side won 1-0 over Derby.

Before the winter transfer window closed, Ward rejected a move to Scottish giants Rangers, preferring to stay and fight to be the first-choice keeper at The Stadium of Light.

Ward also has five caps for the Welsh national team.

[edit] External links

• Darren Ward career stats at Soccerbase
• Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk

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