Mark Ward

Reds & Blues: The Ballad of Dixie & Kenny

Mark Ward a former footballer was born in Huyton, a tough area of Knowsley. He came from a working-class family, one of seven children. Their father, Billy, a labourer, got divorced from their mother, Irene, when Ward was 16, around the same time that Ward was attracting attention from major clubs. He joined Everton as a trainee but in 1981, aged 18, he was released by Gordon Lee.

He joined non-league Northwich Victoria. Though he was only 5ft 6in, he started to fill out. In 1983 he played his first game at Wembley, in the FA Trophy final against Telford. Northwich lost 2-1. Ward, his side's youngest player, refused to collect his loser's medal and went straight to the dressing-room.

Enter Joe Royle, then the manager of Oldham. He had seen Ward play, and arranged a meeting in a pub. Oldham offered him £130 a week, and as he just wanted a chance to be a professional he took it and never looked back.

In the summer of 1985, West Ham's John Lyall paid £250,000 to take Ward to Upton Park. West Ham's team the following season has entered Upton Park legend status, as one of the greatest teams that the club has ever produced. It included Tony Gale, Alvin Martin, Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie. The wingers were Alan Devonshire and Mark Ward. West Ham pushed Liverpool and Everton all the way and eventually finished third, the highest in their history. Ward was still only 23, but he was married, and he and his wife, Jane, already had a baby daughter, Melissa. Jane struggled to settle in the South, but they had some spare money for the first time in their lives, so spent a bit to compensate. Ward bought Jane a horse.

Three years later, West Ham were relegated but Ward remained in what was then the First Division by moving to Howard Kendall's Manchester City for £1m. In the 1990-91 season, under Peter Reid, they finished fifth, their highest place since 1978, and not bettered since. In August 1991, Kendall, this time as Everton manager, signed Ward again for £1.1m. Ward was reunited with Cottee, and had Martin Keown and Peter Beardsley as team-mates. It was during that time he had the most lucrative contract of his career, worth £2,000 a week, for a take-home income of £62,000 a year, plus bonuses.

Ward's Premiership career lasted another two and a half years when, at the age of 31 and with an eye on a future management career, he moved to Birmingham, then in the second tier, as a player-coach under Barry Fry. Birmingham were relegated on goal difference on the final day but bounced straight back, coupling promotion with an Auto Windscreens Trophy triumph at Wembley. Ward was man of the match.

In retrospect, Ward feels his steady decline had already begun. As a footballer his best moments were behind him, and the end of his playing days loomed. His wages were going down, not up. With a new regime imminent at Birmingham, there was no future there, and nothing in the pipeline. And, on the personal front, he and Jane divorced, after 14 years together.

All the same, Ward did everything he could to keep playing. In 1996, aged 33, he had short stints with Huddersfield and Wigan, until he badly injured his hand in a game. Still, he would not give it up. He was unable to play for Wigan, because they knew he had metal wiring in his hand to help it heal. But Dundee, unaware of the injury, wanted a midfielder for one game.

By the end of 1996, he was an ex-player with little to show for 11 years of playing mainly at the highest level. It is a not uncommon story: a former footballer, with few useful qualifications, and half a working life ahead of him. And still Ward craved a life in football.

He visited Australia in 1997, looking for work. came back, did a bit of radio punditry, and played in Masters events. In 2000 he was appointed the player-manager of Altrincham but was sacked 15 months later partly because he spoke his mind when "unfortunately it is not always possible to do so", but mainly, the then chairman said, because the club wanted someone to work on a smaller budget than Ward had accepted. For Ward this was a huge blow. "My sacking at Altrincham damaged my whole existence in the game," he says now. He was soon on the dole.

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Mark Ward

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