WARD, Timothy (1940)

Overview

Cheltenham born on 17th October 1917 he played for Cheltenham Schools before graduating to Cheltenham Town and it was while there that he was approached by another former Accies player, George Jobey, who was manager of Derby County to sign for them. This he did in April 1937 following an impressive trial in which he scored with his first touch of the ball. His former club received £100 in return. From his debut in January 1938 at Sunderland he missed only two games at wing half right up to the outbreak of war.

It was during World War Two that he turned out as a Douglas Parker at half back and though his outings were limited he displayed qualities which marked him as a fine player. He was chosen to play for a Scottish Army Select versus England at Ibrox Park in November 1940. Another one of the Forces games he played in was in 1945 in a British Army XI which met Rangers in Hanover and beat them 6-1. He served in the Army and was slightly wounded in the D-day landings. Leeds United had him in their side on 4 occasions during the war as well. He played for Derby in their first FA Cup tie of 1946-47 then had to return to Germany where he played for the BOAR side.

By the time he returned to Britain he was unable to get back into the County eleven and they went on to win the FA Cup for the first time in their history. He became a regular in the right half position where his style and pace were used to good effect. Arsenal put in an offer of £10,000 for him but he decided to remain at the Baseball Ground.

In 1950 he toured Canada with the English FA having twice previously been picked for England, in September 1947 in a 5-2 win in Brussels and two months later at Villa Park against the Welsh. After scoring five goals in his 260 appearances at Derby he moved to Barnsley in 1951. He had been signed as a replacement for Irishman, Danny Blanchflower who had gone to Aston Villa. With another 33 League games to his name he decided to retire to assist the reserve players at Oakwell.

His call to management came in March 1953 at Exeter City. His stay lasted all of eight days when following the death of the Barnsley manager, Angus Seed, he was offered the manager’s job back at Barnsley and he returned north. He was 34 when he took over, the youngest manager in the English League at that time. The club were to be relegated but within two years they bounced back as Division Three (North) Champions in 1955. Relegation came again in 1958-59. Ward would not tolerate foul play or bad language from his players and he was a good public relations man and allowed his players to take the limelight when the occasion demanded.

In February 1960 he moved to Grimsby Town as manager and took them to runners up in Division Three in 1961-62, then he received a very good offer to take over at Derby County and this he did in June 1962. He was delighted to go there but his gentlemanly approach went against him and he was told he was not ruthless enough. One of the players he did bring to Derby was Kevin Hector who went on to become one of their best known post-war performers. Tim’s contract was not renewed in May 1967 and he left. Within four months he was back in the manager's seat at Carlisle United. He resigned exactly a year later with the Cumbria club in mid-table.

From August 1969, he became a scout for Nottingham Forest and then worked as a representative for a Burton-on-Trent firm. He was still playing while in his 70’s for the Ex-Rams All Stars team and was the first chairman of the Derby County Former Players Association when it was formed in 1991. Illness the following year besought him and he died in hospital in 1993. He was held in such high regard in Derby that a Service of Thanksgiving for his life was held in Derby Cathedral.

Debut on 2nd November 1940 in a Southern League match in which he scored.

Southern League 9 Appearances 2 Goals

Summer Cup 2 Appearances

Accies Career

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