Lawrence Whelan "Polly" Ward, (born 15 June 1929), was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 who played as a striker

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

 for both Bradford clubs.

Career

Born in Ovenden

Ovenden

Ovenden is a village in the county of West Yorkshire, England, located next to Boothtown and Illingworth and about 1 mile from Halifax town centre.Ovenden had a railway station, originally on the Halifax and Ovenden Junction Railway line...

, England, Whelan Ward was a diminutive striker, standing just , who had unsuccessful trials with Bradford Park Avenue

Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C.

Bradford Association Football Club, previously also known as Bradford and since its reformation in the 1970s now referred to as Bradford Park Avenue, is a football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England...

, Leeds United

Leeds United A.F.C.

Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

, Hull City

Hull City A.F.C.

Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...

 and Halifax Town

Halifax Town A.F.C.

Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...

. He was signed by Bradford City

Bradford City A.F.C.

Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

 manager David Steele

David Steele (footballer)

David Morton Steele was a Scottish professional footballer and manager.-Playing career:Born in Carluke, Scotland, Steele was a wing half who started his football career as a part-timer first with Armadale then St. Mirren while he worked as a miner before the First World War...

, who had him on schoolboy forms at Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town F.C.

Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...

, from Ovenden in November 1948.

Ward made his City debut on Christmas Day 1948 against Oldham Athletic. He spent six seasons at Valley Parade

Valley Parade

Valley Parade, also known as the Coral Windows Stadium through sponsorship rights, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1886, and was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they changed code from rugby football to association...

 scoring a total of 37 league goals and five FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 goals in 156 appearances. He was the club's top goal-scorer in 1951–52 and featured in the club's smallest attacking line-up against Darlington

Darlington F.C.

Darlington Football Club is a professional association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, currently playing in the Conference National. The club was founded in 1883, and originally played its games at Feethams, before moving to the Darlington Arena in 2003...

 in October 1962.

He moved to King's Lynn

King's Lynn F.C.

King's Lynn F.C. was an English football club based in King's Lynn, Norfolk. Established in 1879, they were wound up at the High Court on 25 November 2009 with debts of £77,000 and went out of business in December after a failed appeal...

 in August 1954 but returned to Bradford the following year to sign for City's rivals Bradford Park Avenue

Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C.

Bradford Association Football Club, previously also known as Bradford and since its reformation in the 1970s now referred to as Bradford Park Avenue, is a football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England...

. He spent four seasons with Park Avenue, returning to non-league football in August 1959 with Nelson

Nelson F.C.

Nelson F.C. are an English football club, based in Nelson, Lancashire. They are currently members of the North West Counties Football League Division One, who played their home matches at Victoria Park, Lomeshaye Way. They are full members of the Lancashire County Football Association.-Early years:...

.