Tony Ward (born 5 December 1941 in

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

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 ...

) is a former

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 ...

referee and assistant referee. During his career he officiated in the English

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

and

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 ...

, as well as in FIFA-sanctioned matches. He resided in New Southgate, London.

Career

Ward started his career in 1962, serving the South East Counties,

Spartan Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern Pe ...

Athenian Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and Isthmian leagues, before becoming a Football League linesman in 1974. His first match was a Second Division game between

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. In 1980, he was promoted to the Referees List of the Football League; his first match was between Lincoln City and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. Ward reached the normal retirement age of 48 in 1990, but he was retained for a further three seasons along with other high-performing referees. He did not have Premier League appointments initially on its formation in 1992-1993 but was regularly chosen for matches in the second half of the season. His final match was Liverpool v Coventry City in April 1993. When Arsenal moved from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium in 2006, he was appointed Arsenal’s Hon Referees Liaison Officer.

Appointments

Ward's notable appointments include: *FA trophy Final at Wembley between Altrincham and Runcorn *FA Vase Final 1979 *Football League Cup Semifinal 1993 *West Germany vs Brazil (Linesman) 1981 *Reserve referee football league cup final 1989 *Linesman European cup winners cup final 1989 Barcelona vs Sampdoria (referee George Courtney)

Testimonial Matches

In addition to Robin Wainwright and George Parish, Ward refereed testimonial matches for: *

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* Ron "Chopper" Harris * Tony Gale *

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* Ron Hillyard * Terry Gibson * Barry Fry *

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* Eddie Baily *

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* Alan Nelmes *

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* Keith Millen * Tony Gale

Deliberate handball

Ward became the first referee to dismiss a player for deliberate handball when he sent off

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

player

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in a match against Oxford in August 1982. Ten days later he dismissed

Colin Todd Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing as a defender for Sunderland, ...

of Nottingham Forest against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

; Todd became the first Division One player to be sent off for handball.

Numbers board

As fourth official for England v Ireland in 1986 Ward was the first official to use the numbers board for substitutions, the referee was Clive Thomas of Wales.

Private life

He married in August 1963, and has two children and four grandchildren. He worked for 35 years for Mirror Group Newspapers. He is a keen follower of cricket and baseball.

References

* Football League Handbooks 1974–1992 * Rothmans Year Books 1980 - 1992 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Tony 1941 births Living people English football referees People from Highgate Sportspeople from the London Borough of Islington