Peter Ward (born 27 July 1955) is an English retired footballer, whose most successful times were with Brighton & Hove Albion, mostly as a forward. He now lives in the United States. Early life Ward was born at St. Michael's Hospital in Lichfield, Staffordshire. He was the first child born to his parents, Colin and Mavis Ward, who met as members of the Derby Serenaders marching band. The band remained a major part of Ward's family life, with Colin encouraging Ward to take up playing the drums as well. Along with music, he was attracted to football from an early age; his father would later state that he "kicked a ball around as soon as he could walk." Club career Early career and Brighton Ward was an apprentice engine fitter at the Rolls-Royce plant in Derby. While there he played for non-league side Burton Albion making 50 appearances and scoring 21 goals. He was transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. in 1975 for a fee of £4000 (almost $5,500). The move also saw Burton manager Ken Gutteridge move to the Albion as Assistant Manager. Initially, Ward played in the Brighton Reserves. His first game with the first team came on 27 March 1976 against Hereford United. He scored in the first minute in a game that ended 1–1. During the 1976–77 season, he scored 36 goals, beating the club record and winning him the golden boot. He is still revered by Brighton fans who sing a song dreaming of a team in which every player is Peter Ward: 'We all live in a Wardy Wonderland.' After finishing second in Division Two in 1978–79, Brighton were promoted to the old Football League First Division. Ward put in a transfer request; however, differences were resolved and he still wore the Brighton shirt for the first game in the top flight which saw Brighton lose 4–0 to Arsenal. In November of that year Brighton accepted a £400,000 offer from Nottingham Forest, but Forest manager Brian Clough changed his mind and withdrew it. Nottingham Forest Ward finally did move to Nottingham Forest in October 1980 in a three-way deal which saw Gary Birtles leave Forest for Manchester United and Andy Ritchie move south from United to Brighton. He made 28 league appearances for Nottingham Forest and scored seven goals, but things did not work out. Ward was sent on loan to American side