Ashleigh Ward (born 18 August 1994) is a New Zealand

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

er, who has represented the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. At club level, she played for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in the English

FA Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

. She has previously played for

Canterbury United Pride Canterbury United Pride is a semi-professional women's association football team based in Christchurch, New Zealand. The team was established in 2002 as Mainland Pride by Mainland Football as the regional federation's representative in the Nati ...

in New Zealand,

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level ( Football Bowl Subdivis ...

in the United States, and Actonians in England.

Early life

Ward studied in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, before moving to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, where she attended

Cashmere High School Cashmere High School () is a state coeducational secondary school, located in southern Christchurch, New Zealand. It was opened in 1956 in response to population growth in southern Christchurch during the 1950s. The school is located in the su ...

. She started as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, before changing to a left full back. In 2012, she was part of the Cashmere High School girls' team that won the Canterbury Girls' Premier League, and the 2009 and 2010 editions of the Gary Sowden Cup. She studied at Lincoln University, where she also played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

. In 2018, she moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to work as a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher. She started studying again in 2023, as her New Zealand teaching qualification was not usable in the United Kingdom.

Club career

In New Zealand, Ward played football for

, and was part of the Pride team that won the 2014 and 2016

New Zealand Women's National League The New Zealand Women's National League, known as the Dettol Women's National League for sponsorship reasons (and formerly the National Women's League), is the top-level professional women's football (soccer) league in New Zealand. The teams w ...

s. She also played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for

in the United States. She made one appearance for Boston College Eagles in December 2013. After moving to London, Ward started playing for Actonians in England, and was the team's captain. In June 2021, she was part of the Actonians team that lost the final of the Capital Women's Senior Cup to

Queen's Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English fo ...

. Later in the year, she scored as Actonians beat Harlow Town 8–1. In 2022, she had a trial with an English

club, and in August 2022, she signed for Women's Championship side

International career

Ward played for New Zealand under-17s in the buildup to the

2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup women's football tournament was the second such tournament, and was held in Trinidad and Tobago from 5 to 25 September 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, took part in ...

, but was dropped before the tournament. She played all three of New Zealand under-20s matches at the

2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 6th edition of the tournament. The tournament was played in Japan from 19 August to 8 September with sixteen national football teams and marked the first hosting of a FIFA women's tournament in the co ...

, and was in their squad for the 2014 tournament. In November 2021, Ward was called up to the senior team. She was the only uncapped player in the squad. She made her debut on 30 November against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. She replaced New Zealand captain

Ali Riley Alexandra Lowe Riley (born 30 October 1987) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Angel City FC, Angel City of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in ...

, who was injured. In February 2022, she was named in the New Zealand squad for the

2022 SheBelieves Cup The 2022 SheBelieves Cup, named the 2022 SheBelieves Cup Presented by Visa for sponsorship reasons, was the seventh edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational Women's association football, women's soccer tournament held in the United States. ...

. She was ruled out of a 2022 match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

due to an injury. She was not selected for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

; she had been a part of the New Zealand pre-event training camp.

Honours

;Individual *

Mainland Football Mainland Football is one of six federations of New Zealand Football, representing regions of Northern and Central Canterbury, Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and the West Coast. History Canterbury United Pride was founded in 2002, to represe ...

Women's Youth Player of the Year: 2009 *

Womens Defender of the Year: 2011 *

Womens Player of the Year: 2011

References

External links

*
Actonians LFC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Ashleigh 1994 births Living people New Zealand women's international footballers FA Women's National League players Women's association football fullbacks People educated at Cashmere High School Boston College Eagles women's soccer players New Zealand women's association footballers Lincoln University (New Zealand) alumni New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Expatriate women's footballers in England New Zealand expatriate women's association footballers Women's Super League 2 players Southampton F.C. Women players 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen