Donald Ward (born – death unknown) was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ed in the 1950s. He played at club level for

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

Celtic de Paris Celtic de Paris were a French rugby league team from the city of Paris. The club played most games at La Cipale, Saint-Ouen, and occasionally at the Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football ...

and Wyke ARLFC, as a or , and coached at club level for

and Wyke ARLFC.

Background

Donald Ward was born in

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, England.

Playing career

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Donald Ward played in

's 8-3 aggregate victory over

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the

1943–44 Challenge Cup The 1943–44 Challenge Cup was the 43rd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Bradford Northern and Wigan, and was played over two legs. The final was won by Bradford Northern 8–3 ...

Final during the 1943–44 season; the 0–3 defeat at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

on Saturday 15 April 1944, and the 8–0 victory at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

on Saturday 22 April 1944, played in the 8–4 victory over

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the

1946–47 Challenge Cup The 1946–47 Challenge Cup was the 46th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Leeds reached the Wembley final for the second time, doing so w ...

Final during the 1946–47 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

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 ...

on Saturday 3 May 1947, played in the 3–8 defeat by

in the

1947–48 Challenge Cup The 1947–48 Challenge Cup was the 47th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Wigan and Bradford Northern at Wembley Stadium, and was the first ever rugby league match to be televi ...

Final during the 1947–48 season at

on Saturday 1 May 1948, and played in the 12–0 victory over Halifax in the

1948–49 Challenge Cup The 1948–49 Challenge Cup was the 48th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The 29 clubs of the rugby league were joined in the competition by three junior clubs, one each from Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cum ...

Final during the 1948–49 season at

on Saturday 7 May 1949.

played in five of the six

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

finals between 1944 and 1949, the first two finals; the

Final against

, and the

1944–45 Challenge Cup The 1944–45 Challenge Cup was the 44th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Qualifier First round Second round Semifinals Final In the final of the Rugby league Challenge Cup, Huddersfield beat Brad ...

Final against

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

were played over two-legs, five Bradford Northern players played in all five of these finals, they were;

Eric Batten Frederick "Eric" E. Batten (13 June 1914 – 3 September 1993) was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and Coach (sport), coached rugby league in the 1950s. He played club le ...

Vic Darlison Victor "Vic" Darlison (7 April 1916 – second 1982) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. He played at club level for Goole ARLFC, Featherstone Rovers (two spells, including the second ...

, Donald Ward,

Ernest Ward Ernest Ward (30 July 1920 – 9 July 1987) was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and coached in the 1950s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, British Empire, Combined Nationalities and Eng ...

, and

Frank Whitcombe Frank William Whitcombe (29 May 1913 – 17 January 1958), also known by the nickname of "The Big Man", was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played rugby union (RU) for Cardif ...

Genealogical information

Donald Ward was the older brother of the rugby league footballer;

References

External links