Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1920-07-30)30 July 1920[1] Dewsbury, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 July 1987(1987-07-09) (aged 66)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback, Centre, Second-row | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Relatives | Donald Ward (brother) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ernest Ward (30 July 1920 – 9 July 1987) was an Englishrugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, andcoached in the 1950s. He played at representative level forGreat Britain,British Empire,Combined Nationalities andEngland, and at club level forBradford Northern (captain), andCastleford, as agoal-kickingfullback, centre orsecond-row,[3][5][6][7] and coached at club level forCastleford.[8][9] Ernest Ward was aPrivate in theBritish Army duringWorld War II.[10]
Ward was born inDewsbury,West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and he lived in abungalow inWyke,Bradford.
Ward made 391 appearances for Bradford Northern, scoring 117 tries and 538 goals, for a total of 1427 points, he was inducted into the Bradford Northern/Bradford Bulls Hall of Fame in September 2006.
Ward played inBradford Northern's 26-20 aggregate victory overHalifax in theChampionship Final during the1944–45 season; the 2–9 defeat atThrum Hall,Halifax, and the 24–11 victory atOdsal Stadium,Bradford.
Ward played inBradford Northern's 8–3 aggregate victory overWigan in the1943–44 Challenge Cup Final during the1943–44 season; the 0–3 defeat atCentral Park,Wigan on Saturday 15 April 1944, and the 8–0 victory atOdsal Stadium,Bradford on Saturday 22 April 1944, played and scored 2conversions in the 8–4 victory overLeeds in the1946–47 Challenge Cup Final during the1946–47 season atWembley Stadium,London on Saturday 3 May 1947, played atcentre and wascaptain in the 3–8 defeat byWigan in the1947–48 Challenge Cup Final during the1947–48 season atWembley Stadium,London on Saturday 1 May 1948,[11] and played, and wasman of the match winning theLance Todd Trophy inBradford Northern's 12–0 victory overHalifax in the1948–49 Challenge Cup Final during the1948–49 season atWembley Stadium,London on Saturday 7 May 1949.
Bradford Northern played in five of the sixChallenge Cup finals between 1944 and 1949, the first two finals; the1943–44 Challenge Cup Final againstWigan, and the1944–45 Challenge Cup Final againstHuddersfield were played over two-legs, five Bradford Northern players played in all five of these finals, they were;Eric Batten,Vic Darlison,Donald Ward, Ernest Ward, andFrank Whitcombe.
Ward played inBradford Northern's 5–2 victory overWakefield Trinity in the1945–46 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1945–46 season atThrum Hall,Halifax on Saturday 3 November 1945, played atcentre in the 18–9 victory overCastleford in the1948–49 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1948–49 season atHeadingley,Leeds on Saturday 30 October 1948, and played atcentre and scored 4-conversions in the 11–4 victory overHuddersfield in the1949–50 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1949–50 season atHeadingley,Leeds on Saturday 29 October 1949.
Ernest Ward playedfullback forNorthern Command XIII against aRugby League XIII atThrum Hall,Halifax on Saturday 21 March 1942.[10]
Ernest Ward woncaps forEngland while at Bradford Northern in 1941 against Wales, in 1945 against Wales (2 matches), in 1946 against France (2 matches), and Wales (2 matches), in 1947 against France, and Wales, in 1948 against France (2 matches), in 1949 against Wales, and France (2 matches), in 1950 against Wales (2 matches), and France, in 1952 againstOther Nationalities (2 matches), and Wales, woncaps for Wales while at Bradford Northern in 1946 against France, in 1947 against France, England, New Zealand, France, and England, in 1948 against France, England, France, and Australia, in 1949 against England, and France, and in 1951 against Other Nationalities (2 matches), represented British Empire while at Bradford Northern in 1952 against New Zealand, and woncaps forGreat Britain while at Bradford Northern in 1946 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand, in 1947 against New Zealand (2 matches), in 1948 against Australia (3 matches), in 1950 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches), in 1951 against New Zealand (3 matches), and in 1952 against Australia (3 matches).
As of September 2010, With 26 goals, Ernest Ward is fourth in the list of England's all-time Goal Scorers, behindGeorge Fairbairn,Andrew Farrell &Kevin Sinfield,[12] with 58 points he is 4th in the list of England's all-time Point Scorers, again behindGeorge Fairbairn,Andrew Farrell &Kevin Sinfield.[13]
Ernest Ward was thecoach ofCastleford, his first game in charge was on Saturday 7 November 1953, and his last game in charge was on Saturday 7 April 1956.[9]
Ernest Ward was the younger brother of the rugby league footballer;Donald Ward.
Ward died in July 1987, aged 66.[14] The Ernest Ward Memorial Trophy was created in his honour, and was awarded annually to British-based players who had given outstanding service to rugby league over the year.[15]
Ernest Ward, has been included in Bradford's 'Millennium Masters', 'Bull Masters', and in August 2007 he was named in the 'Team of the Century'. Only six players have been included in all three lists, they are;Karl Fairbank,Trevor Foster,James Lowes,Keith Mumby,Robbie Paul, and Ernest Ward.
