Mark Ward makes good use of his time behind bars
During a career that spanned through the eighties and nineties, Mark Ward notched up an enviable list of achievements: he played in Wembley cup finals, scored in Merseyside derbies for his hometown club Everton, and came within a few points of winning the league with the lauded West Ham team of 1986. Stuart Pearce once singled him out as the trickiest opponent he ever face, and after a game at Nottingham Forest, Brian Clough declared: “Take Ward to the [1986] World Cup.”
After being relieved of his duties as Altrincham player/manager in 2001, however, Ward’s fortunes took a turn for the worse. Playing in an era where professionals weren’t set up for life with ridiculous pay packages (his biggest contract earned him £2,000 per week), Ward was getting by on handouts and income support. After accepting an offer to rent out a house in his name and hand over the keys to a third party who would pay him a weekly wage, Ward found himself on the wrong side of the police, who raided the property and found 4kg (or £645,000 worth) of cocaine.
After pleading guilty to intent to supply, Ward began an eight year sentence in 2005 at Liverpool’s Walton prison, housed in the “lifer’s” wing thanks to overcrowding.
Knowing that his sentence could have been halved if he had agreed to name the folks for whom he rented the “drug factory” house, Ward kept quiet and spent a little more time surrounded by gangs, fights, cockroaches, scams and suicides.
During the last four years in prison, Ward has used his time productively, detailing his rise to glory and subsequent fall from grace in Right Wing to B-wing…Premier League to Prison. He recalls a friendship with one of Birmingham’s biggest drug dealers (which ended when he shot was dead in a pub), and how cocaine took away his career, his marriage and his freedom.
The Spoiler has no idea if the book is any good - it’s released tomorrow and we haven’t read it - but it has all the hallmarks of a decent page turner.
Spoiler bonus: Like football books? Check out The Spoiler’s top five here
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5 responses so far
1 jro // Apr 29, 2009 at 10:52 pm
I doubt many of todays stars could write a biography as eventful as this. I’ll definitely be seeking out a copy.
2 MB // Apr 30, 2009 at 7:10 am
As pointed out in article he may not be on the silly money of today’s players but 2k a week (100k a year) is big money by most peoples standards and should not be used as a reason for his decline.
3 englandsnumber6 // Apr 30, 2009 at 11:13 am
What did anyone expect he is a scouser, a born thief, its second nature to them, and by the way they’re not funnt so dont laugh at them
4 RedbyDawn // Apr 30, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Haha very funny you stupid mockney prick.
Mark used to come coach my under 15’s back in the day. In between bouts of chisel and giving his house keys to shady strangers so it would seem.
Sound fella though.
5 stephen owen // Jun 24, 2009 at 10:01 am
Why did your dreams have to die
( Dedication to my Cousin Mark Ward )
I remember the headlines
WARD FOR ANFIELD
couldn’t`t believe it
my team,was it true?
did Kenny Dalglish really want to sign you?
a blue
Toffee nosed and all
couldn’t`t wait to see you at Anfield kicking the Ball
but it wasn’t`t to be
because you signed for your heroes it was easy to see
why would you go to the other side of Stanley Park?
I was so happy for you Mark
your Stevie Gerrard boyhood dream had come true
Mark Ward was now an official blue
I watched your career blossom from the word go
I watched you with passion
my Cousin,I was in tow
Newspaper cut outs filled a Book dedicated to you
it was so great to watch the Fans call out to you
Wardy,Wardy they shouted from the Stands
thousands cheered all waving their Hands
Northwich, Oldham ,then on to West Ham
Man City,Everton then back to Birmingham
Player Coach at Leigh RMI
MATE YOU HAD THE WORLD AT YOUR FEET
why did your dreams have to die
so here is to your future
it all starts right here
this is the beginning of a new career.