IF you presented Noel Ward’s soccer career in script form to a Holywood producer, they would probably laugh you out of their office.
The Dunamanagh native was plucked from obscurity to play for Derry City before moving to Portadown, then on to Aberdeen and then Wigan Athletic where he seemed destined for the top.
He played at Molineux, scored on his international debut, rearranged his wedding to play against Kenny Daglish and was part of the first ever Wigan team to play in the Football League, all before injury ended his career at the age of just 26.
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Ward comes from a sporting family. His dad was a good footballer, he had uncles who played cricket and he played gaelic football at county level, winning the All Ireland Vocational Schools’ Championship with Tyrone. But it was on the soccer pitch that he made his name, although he would say older brother Brian, who also played for Derry City, was the pick of the siblings, who included the youngest, Peter, who played for Coleraine and Lisburn Distillery.