Peter Ward - So Just How Good Was He??

[Mendoza]

On the massive news he will be playing in the stripes again!!!

We all sing songs about him, but myself at 28 years old, along with pretty much everyone else in the Brighton REMF squad, never saw him play.

We are all honoured he will be part of the squad, and it will be a priviledge to play a game with him, even if he can only make a cameo appearance.

What made him so good, and what made him the legend he is at the club. Will be good to know just what makes him so special, as we prepare to play with what some people see as "the best ever"

Be There to See him play!!!!

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

The Best.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

He is 53 now. I think he will play for quite a lot of the game. After all he is travelling 7000miles round trip to play.

 

[Brovion]

How good was he? It's hard to put into words. Everytime he got the ball you expected him to do something special. There are loads of clips of his goals on youtube etc and nearly every one is a bit special - he didn't do tap-ins. Also this was in the days when very little football was filmed/videoed so most of his goals haven't been recorded for posterity. Needless to say it was a great experience to be in a packed North Stand and to see Wardy with the ball at his feet and three defenders in front of him. A few jinks and turns and a shot and the ball would be in the net; it was almost like he paid the opposition to make him look good.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Come visit Seagulls TV - Relive the Glory Years of 1976-83 for video clips of Peter Ward in all his glory. Features all three of his goals for us in his loan spell in 1982/83, and some beauties from his earlier years....

 

[Dandyman]

Belonging to the spoiled generation whose Albion supporting days coincided with Ward's glory years, I would say he was easily the most impressive forward player I've seen play for the stripes. (That said at the time my big hero was actually Nobby Horton).

There are plenty of examples of great goals from him but one of the things that always sticks in my mind from the late 70's is actually a miss - an outrageous overhead kick that just missed the goal but had the whole of the Goldstone roaring.

 

[Icy Gull]

Everytime he ran at the defence you expected something special and often got it, I can't think of another Albion forward who has made the stadium buzz in expectation like he did on a run, and that includes Zamora.

He is also responsible for making me an Albion fan...bastard

 

[KZNSeagull]

Come visit Seagulls TV - Relive the Glory Years of 1976-83 for video clips of Peter Ward in all his glory. Features all three of his goals for us in his loan spell in 1982/83, and some beauties from his earlier years....

Excellent - brings back memories. The goal against Newcastle sums Peter Ward up really - makes his own space and slots it home - magic.

Interestingly there were a lot of fans back then who thought he was lazy and spent too much time on his backside!! Just goes to show that no matter who you have playing for you, you cannot please everybody!!

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

" He shot he scored , it must be our old Peter Ward "

 

[Exmouth Seagull]

The best I ever saw play for the Albion, Zamora included, he had a special magic. The bits on Youtube only scratch the surface, it's a shame there is no footage of most of the matches from Ward's glory years.

 

[Gwylan]

Everytime he ran at the defence you expected something special and often got it, I can't think of another Albion forward who has made the stadium buzz in expectation like he did on a run, and that includes Zamora.

That's right. When Wardy was on form you didn't want to miss a split second of the action - the noise of the crowd would rise signiifcantly. Although as KZN Seagull points out, he certainly had his off-days and there were some detractors.

It's worth pointing out that he never won Player of the Year for us and in terms of consistency he was well behind Nobby and Lawro.

But I can't think of a single other player who's come close to generating that sort of excitement - not Mike Small, Johnny Byrne, Garry Nelson or Bobby Z.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ward_(footballer_born_1955)

 

[Brovion]

That's right. When Wardy was on form you didn't want to miss a split second of the action - the noise of the crowd would rise signiifcantly. Although as KZN Seagull points out, he certainly had his off-days and there were some detractors.

It's worth pointing out that he never won Player of the Year for us and in terms of consistency he was well behind Nobby and Lawro.

But I can't think of a single other player who's come close to generating that sort of excitement - not Mike Small, Johnny Byrne, Garry Nelson or Bobby Z.

All true - especially the bit about detractors! It wasn't unheard of to hear people (the 1970s equivalents of Withdean Wanderer and The Complete Badger) moan and say he was 'lazy', 'goes down too easily' and that 'all he does is score goals'.

Also I have to say that Zamora has been far more of a success in the top division than Ward ever was, either with us or Forest. But that's all by-the-by, those years when we were moving up the divisions were magical.

 

[Franks Wild Years]

Without doubt he was the best player I've seen in the stripes. As has been said every time he got the ball the excitement levels shot up the scale.
He was my hero when I was a young lad, I've still got somewhere scrap books full of Argus reports, Shoot articles, anything I could collect about him. Marvelous times, in the chicken run Nobby Wardy Tank Shoot at half time move that bloody board silk scarves round your wrist Sully shoots misses all the lads n lasses hove park floodlights smelly toilets standing on a box Seagulls A.G.A.G.R.A.G.R.O.AGRO. i could go on but it's medication time................................

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Didn't he become less prolific as soon as he grew that moustache?

 

[cjd]

He was the nearest thing to "george Best" we,ll ever have in the stripes.

When you consider he was just a wisp of a lad, and the thuggish tackles that were around in those days, it might give a better idea of how quick and skillful he was, to still be able to score 36 goals in a season.

 

[Perry Milkins]

" He shot he scored , it must be our old Peter Ward "

I never sung 'our old' Uncle.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Jimmy Greaves once commented that what he liked about Wardy was that he did not need to break the net to score a goal.

He could score some scorchers, but the majority were as a result of very close ball skills that enable him to jinx past defenders and around the keeper and then just tap the ball in to the empty goal sometime barely reaching the back of the net.
reading it back, it may seem as if was arrogance but it weren't just pure skill.
It was a privilege to have seen him.
Great days

 

[Garage_Doors]

moan and say he was 'lazy', 'goes down too easily' and that 'all he does is score goals'.

Its just reminded me of the old chant. "he's in the box and down he goes"

Did win a few penalties long before diving become a part of the training ground.

 

[withdeanwombat]

He was astonishing.How he eluded top clubs and ended up at Burton is a mystery.I have never seen another Albion forward like him,and never expect to.He was a stand out player,and his goals were often superb.One report I read said that Ward turned so quickly his number appeared on his chest.

We have had very good players before him and since him,but nobody approaches him,nobody at all.