Gerry Ward

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Personal information
Gerry Ward
Full name	Gerald Ward
Date of birth	October 5, 1936
Place of birth	Stepney, London, England
Date of death	January 1994
Playing position	Left wing, wing half
Youth clubs
1952-53	Arsenal
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1953-63 1963-64	Arsenal Leyton Orient	81(10) 44(2)
Teams managed
	Barnet
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Gerald "Gerry" Ward (October 5, 1936 – January 1994) was an English footballer.

Born in Stepney, London, Ward joined Arsenal as a trainee in 1952 and was quickly propelled into the first team. He made his debut on the left wing in a home match against Huddersfield on August 22, 1953, at the age of 16 years and 321 days; this made him at the time Arsenal's youngest-ever player, and to this day he still holds the record for Arsenal's youngest-ever player in a league match. He turned professional soon after and made two more appearances in the 1953-54 season.

Ward did not play for Arsenal for another four years after that; a large portion of that time was spent doing National Service, which prevented him from playing. He was demobbed in February 1957 and regained his place in the 1957-58 season, becoming a regular in 1958-59 at wing half. However, with competition from Tommy Docherty he was only a bit-part player between 1960 and 1963, making just 21 appearances over the three seasons. He left Arsenal in July 1963 for Leyton Orient; in all he played 84 times for Arsenal, scoring ten goals.

He spent one season at Orient, making 44 appearances and scoring two goals. He had a career in non-league football after that, playing for both Cambridge City and Barnet, whom he also managed. He died in 1994, aged 57.