Julian Ward (born 17 June 1981) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

executive and former footballer who is the current technical director of

Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

Early life

Ward was born on 17 June 1981 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, but grew up in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England. Eventually, he returned to Liverpool to study

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

Playing career

As a youth player, Ward joined the academy of current

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

side

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

, where he started his senior playing career. In 2002, he signed for English side

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, formed in 1919. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...

. One year later, he signed for English side Kidsgrove Athletic. In 2005, Ward moved to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and signed for Northern Irish Premier League side Larne Football Club managed by Kenny Shiels . Ward spent two seasons with Larne Football Club before signing for Paul Kirk’s Northern Irish Premier League side

Lisburn Distillery Lisburn Distillery Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club who are based in Ballyskeagh, Lisburn. A founder member of the Irish League, they currently play in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, the third tier of the Nor ...

in 2007.

Managerial career

In July 2008 Ward left Northern Ireland to become part of

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football manager. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar, leading ...

’s technical team, when he was appointed Head of Technical Scouting for the

Portugal national football team The Portugal national football team () has represented Portugal in men's international Association football, football competitions since 1921. The national team is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), the governing body for ...

. During his time with the Portugal national football team, he lived in Lisbon and learnt Portuguese. After the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

Finals in South Africa,

was replaced by

Paulo Bento Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. A Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate ...

and Ward returned to England, accepting a position within the scouting department of English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. In September 2012, Ward left Manchester City to take the role of European scouting manager and later loan player manager for English

side

. By 2020, after establishing the club's loan player department, he was promoted to assistant sporting director, working alongside Michael Edwards for two seasons. Upon promotion to Liverpool FC's sporting director in 2022, Ward led on the signings of a number of players, including Colombian international Luis Díaz, Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez, Dutch winger

Cody Gakpo Cody Mathès Gakpo (; born 7 May 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left winger or forward for club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. A PSV academy graduate, Gakpo made his first-team debut in February 2018 ...

and Argentina’s

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

winner

Alexis Mac Allister Alexis Mac Allister (born 24 December 1998) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and the Argentina national football team, Argentina national team. Mac Alli ...

. Ward returned to

in May 2024 as technical director for its owners Fenway Sports Group.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Julian 1981 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool Men's association football midfielders English football managers English men's footballers Hyde United F.C. players Kidsgrove Athletic F.C. players Larne F.C. players Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Footballers from Cumbria