| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Elliott Leslie Ward | ||
| Date of birth | 19 January 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Harrow, London, England | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Norwich City | ||
| Number | 22 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2003 | West Ham United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003–2006 | West Ham United | 18 | (0) |
| 2004 | → Peterborough United (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | → Bristol Rovers (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | → Plymouth Argyle (loan) | 16 | (1) |
| 2006–2010 | Coventry City | 116 | (14) |
| 2010 | → Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2010 | → Preston North End (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2010– | Norwich City | 39 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:04, 8 May 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Elliott Leslie Ward (born 19 January 1985 in Harrow, Greater London) is an English professional footballer currently playing for Norwich City. He signed for the Canaries on a free transfer from Coventry City in May 2010; officially joining them on 1 July.
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Ward came through the youth system of West Ham United, making his debut for the Under-17 side before joining the first team in August 2003. In 2004, Ward went out for two loan spells, at Peterborough United and Bristol Rovers in July and December 2004 respectively.
Ward made an impact on the West Ham first team during the second half of the 2004–05 season, while the club were in the Football League Championship. Primarily due to injuries to more established defenders such as Christian Dailly and Malky Mackay, he found himself with the opportunity of partnering Anton Ferdinand in the centre of defence.
When Ward was brought into the first team, for the 1–3 loss against Reading on 12 March 2005,[1] the club were lying outside the playoff places and looked unlikely to make it back to the Premiership. The pairing of Ward and Ferdinand enabled the team to remain unbeaten for the rest of the season. This unbeaten run included the three playoff games, thus ensuring their return to the Premiership for the following season.[2]
At the beginning of the 2005–06 season, to prepare for the upcoming Premiership campaign, West Ham signed a number of players, including central defenders Danny Gabbidon and James Collins from Cardiff City. Gabbidon became the preferred choice to partner Ferdinand, and this resulted in chances being few and far between for Ward. He played two League Cup games, but made only one substitute Premiership appearance (against Bolton on 27 August 2005)[3] before being loaned out to Plymouth Argyle in November. The month-by-month loan deal lasted three months, and after playing 16 games and scoring once against Wolves,[4] Ward returned to The Hammers in February 2006 playing three further games towards the end of the 2005–06 season.
Ward left West Ham in the summer of 2006, joining Coventry City for £1m. Manager Micky Adams said of him: ""In Elliott we have a young, talented and confident defender who I'm sure will bring a real presence to our back line. He is just the sort of player we are looking for to help the club progress."[5]
His performances for Coventry have attracted significant interest from Charlton Athletic and Fulham, or even a move back to former club West Ham for reported £2.5 million fees. The speculation heightened when Ward was omitted from the starting line up that faced Bristol City in an F.A. Cup 3rd round tie on 6 January. Coventry manager Micky Adams vehemently denied the rumour that Ward had been dropped to avoid him being cup-tied, but insisted that Ward had picked up a hamstring strain and thus was unfit to play.
Having fallen down the pecking order at Coventry, he joined Doncaster Rovers on a one month emergency loan after Rovers suffered injuries to several first team defenders.[6]
He made an instant impact at Doncaster, scoring a spectacular overhead kick goal on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.[7]
He signed a loan deal with Preston North End until the end of the 2009–10 season.
On 26 May 2010, it was announced that Ward had signed a two-year deal with Norwich City signing on a free transfer.[8] His Norwich debut game on 6 August in the opening game of the 2010–11 season, a 2–3 home defeat to Watford.[9] Ward picked up his first man of the match award at the club in the 2–0 win over Swansea City on 21 August. Ward formed a good partnership with Leon Barnett in the centre of defence, helping Norwich to 5th place by 23 October.
Ward picked up an injury in the 2–1 away win over Coventry on 18 December, sidelining him until the end of January. He made his return to the team in the 2–1 win over Millwall on 1 February 2011, scoring his first goal for the club to equalise.[10]
During the tour of Germany, Ward picked up an injury, which meant he was considered unlikely to make the start of the Premier League season, meaning he faces stiff competition to gain a starting place with competition from Zak Whitbread, Ritchie De Laet and Leon Barnett.
He is the brother of Millwall defender Darren Ward, who turned down the opportunity of joining West Ham and the Premiership, at the start of the 2005–06 season, instead opting for Championship side Palace, claiming he did not want to keep his brother out of the team.[11]
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