Ashley Ward

Ward had a spell with Manchester United in the 1986–87 season, making 16 appearances for the club's Junior B team. He then played for Cheadle Town Youth, and chose to become an apprentice at Manchester City above an offer from Blackburn Rovers. He then played for Leicester City before a move to Crewe Alexandra, where he made his name. At the start of the 1992–93 season, Craig Hignett and Tony Naylor were a prolific strike partnership but after Hignett was signed by Middlesbrough, Ward began to feature. He made his Crewe debut in an EFL Trophy match against Wrexham at Gresty Road on 8 December 1992, and scored his first Crewe goal in a 1–1 draw against Rochdale on 12 March 1993, then adding five more before the season finished. In the following injury-affected season, he scored 13 goals in 24 appearances, including the final-day winner at Chester City that earned Crewe promotion from the third tier. He started the 1994–1995 season with three goals in Crewe's first five fixtures, added four more in four appearances in October, then scored in six consecutive games for Crewe, including two hat-tricks (against Gresley Rovers in the FA Cup, and Chester City in the EFL Trophy). Ward was then signed by Norwich City for £350,000 in December 1994. On his Canaries debut, he scored two first-half goals against Chelsea, then made it three goals in two games, scoring at Crystal Palace. He scored eight times in 25 appearances in total before the season finished; he then added another 10…

Ward was born in Middleton, Lancashire, the son of a coal mining engineer. He attended William Hulme's Grammar School, which opted for rugby and lacrosse as the school sports over football.

Ward and his wife Dawn, who is known for appearing on The Real Housewives of Cheshire, run a number of businesses together, including, a commercial property business, operating Abafields, a nursing home in Bolton bought for development but now operating under a manager. He also manages a £15million luxury property development company Bilton Ward Developments. Formed in 2002 the company specialises in the building and renovation of luxury homes, however this has now gone into liquidation, mainly for footballers including Kevin Campbell and Wayne Rooney. Interior design is often done by former Changing Rooms designer Laura McCree. In March 2011, Ward was linked with a possible move to buy Wrexham.

Individual

Barnsley Player of the Year: 1997–98