Elliott Leslie Ward (born 19 January 1985) is a retired English professional footballer who played as a defender. He played in the Premier League for West Ham United and Norwich City. Playing career West Ham United Ward was born in Harrow, Greater London, and came through the youth system of West Ham United, making his debut for the Under-17 side before joining the first team in August 2003. In 2004, Ward went out for two loan spells, at Peterborough United and Bristol Rovers in July and December 2004 respectively. Ward made an impact on the West Ham first team during the second half of the 2004–05 season, while the club were in the Football League Championship. Primarily due to injuries to more established defenders such as Christian Dailly and Malky Mackay, he found himself with the opportunity of partnering Anton Ferdinand in the centre of defence. When Ward was brought into the first team, for the 1–3 loss against Reading on 12 March 2005, the club were lying outside the playoff places and looked unlikely to make it back to the Premiership. The pairing of Ward and Ferdinand enabled the team to remain unbeaten for the rest of the season. This unbeaten run included the three play-off games, thus ensuring their return to the Premiership for the following season. At the beginning of the 2005–06 season, to prepare for the upcoming Premiership campaign, West Ham signed a number of players, including central defenders Danny Gabbidon and James Collins from Cardiff City. Gabbidon became the preferred choice to partner Ferdinand, and this resulted in chances being few and far between for Ward. He played two League Cup games, but made only one substitute Premiership appearance (against Bolton Wanderers on 27 August 2005) before being loaned out to Plymouth Argyle in November. The month-by-month loan deal lasted three months, and after playing 16 games and scoring once against Wolves, Ward returned to The Hammers in February 2006 playing three further games towards the end of the 2005–06 season. Coventry City Ward left West Ham in the summer of 2006, joining Coventry City for £1 million. Manager Micky Adams said of him: "In Elliott we have a young, talented and confident defender who I'm sure will bring a real presence to our back line. He is just the sort of player we are looking for to help the club progress." Ward made his