He Shot, He Scored: The Official Biography of Peter Ward

by Matthew Horner

The book chronicles the life and career of footballer Peter Ward who played for Brighton & Hove Albion,Nottingham Forest and England. Ward also played professionally in the USA and was the Player of the Year in1982 when part of the Seattle Sounders team that played New York Cosmos in the Soccer Bowl.The book will be an engrossing read for all football fans - especially those of the teams that Ward played forand for fans of `real' football in the 1970s and 1980s.In his time at Brighton Ward became the club's record goal scorer (a record that still stands) and made astunning England U21 debut scoring a hat‐trick at Brighton's Goldstone Ground. Ward's success at Brightonmade him one of the most high‐profile players of his generation and he remains undoubtedly the mostpopular sportsman that Sussex has ever seen.A big money move to double European Champions Nottingham Forest saw Ward experience the controversialtechniques of legendary management duo Brian Clough and Peter Taylor first hand. Clough's refusal to allowWard to return to Brighton to play in the 1983 Cup Final forced the striker to turn his back on British footballand he returned to the USA to play for Seattle and followed that with stints with the Vancouver Whitecaps anda number of professional indoor teams. Ward temporarily returned to the outdoor game playing for RodneyMarsh and Mark Lawrenson at the Tampa Bay Rowdies.Since retiring from the professional game Ward has been part of a number of amateur US NationalChampionship teams and continues to play and coach in Tampa, Florida.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2009

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect insight into one of Brighton and Hove Albion's most famous players.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable story of a player who was the hero of so many of my school friends… we lived near Brighton, but I was more into cricket. A huge folk hero in the area … there was a church near us with a big poster saying “Jesus saves” only for someone to amend it with the words “but Ward puts in the rebound.” We all knew who they meant!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my son’s coach. He is an amazing coach. It’s fun to understand his past.