New Opportunity Beckons For Former Wolves Veteran
Stephen Ward…..pictured during one of his 239 Wolves first-team appearances.
Stephen Ward has embarked on a new posting in the game in Dubai, with Terry Connor following him out of Solihull Moors this week.
The former Wolves utility man has announced his arrival in the Middle East several weeks on from saying his exit at the National League club was based on a desire to achieve a better work-family balance.
He has joined the steady exodus to the Emirates by being appointed as head of football development and ambassador at Dubai Irish Football Club.
We wish him well in the venture and are happy to recap on what he told Solihull supporters on the club’s official website around the start of the season.
He thanked the Moors for ‘the opportunity and trust they have shown in me’ and continued: “It has been a fantastic few years and I have enjoyed coming to work each and every day. It’s with a heavy heart that I have come to this decision to leave.”
With Richard Stearman in a player-coach role, Solihull suffered two heart-breaking Wembley defeats at the end of 2023-24, against Bromley in the final of the League play-offs and at the hands of Gateshead in the FA Trophy.
The defender joined Swansea’s backroom team last season and, while the Welsh side are going along promisingly in seventh place in the Championship, the fifth-tier club he left behind are bottom of the table with only three points from seven games.
Ward had already decided to leave before a ball was kicked, adding: “After spending 20 years in professional football, I know how difficult it is to find the right balance between football and family.
“I feel now is the right time for me to step away and spend more time with my young family and explore new opportunities with them.
“I mentioned to the chairman that this was something I planned to do and his understanding of my decision was fully supportive and appreciated. I have the utmost respect for Darryl (Eales) and what he has achieved in his life.
“He has been a brilliant mentor for me and I have learned so much from him. I was once told that the most important thing in football was for a club to have the right owner and Darryl has shown this by his continued commitment, support and dedication to Solihull Moors.
Terry Connor, in white, directing the action on Wolves’ pre-season trip to Portugal in 2001.
“This football club is very special and, at the heart of it, are the amazing group of staff I have been lucky to work alongside during my time here.”
Nevertheless, it is Solihull’s poor start that has cost Connor his job there along with the manager he linked up with when he was installed only a couple of months ago, Matt Taylor.
Dubai Irish are the oldest amateur club in the United Arab Emirates, having been founded in 1997 by a group of Irish ex-pats, hence their nickname, The Green Machine.
They are run largely by volunteers and have sides ranging from under-four to senior level.