Gerry Ward

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Gerry Ward
Personal information
Full name	Gerald Ward
Date of birth	October 5, 1936(1936-10-05)
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.

[edit] References

• Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.) (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4.