Aside from the major squad overhaul that brought in 16 new players, one of the stories of the summer for Bristol Rovers in the transfer market was the decision to allow homegrown goalkeeper Jed Ward to depart on loan for the season.
The 21-year-old had just made 18 appearances for his boyhood club in League One in the second half of the previous campaign, winning the Young Player of the Season award in the process after some outstanding displays.
Alongside his first spell as Rovers’ first choice, Ward signed a new bumper four-year contract and made his England Under-20s debut. It looked at that point that the Gas had their number one for the next couple of years ready to go.
Instead, the decision was made that the club would sanction a loan exit for the 21-year-old with the hope that he would make as close to 50-odd appearances as possible and return a much-improved goalkeeper.
Josh Griffiths came in on loan from West Brom to fill Ward’s absence for the season as the Rovers academy product went out to National League promotion favourites Forest Green Rovers for the season.
Up until February 3, that plan was working excellently. Griffiths had saved countless points for the Gas with a number of inspired displays while Ward was receiving numerous plaudits up the M5 in Gloucestershire.
However, a domino effect began once West Brom sold their number one Alex Palmer to Ipswich Town, leading to the Baggies recalling Griffiths which meant that the Gas had to bring Ward back from Forest Green prematurely while also signing Myles Roberts on loan from Watford for extra cover.
Now, the 21-year-old is back in BS7 and is set to pick up where he left off in a Rovers shirt having made his return to action on Tuesday night in a 1-1 draw with Stockport County.
“End of the season I spoke to the gaffer at the time Matt Taylor and sort of said, ‘what’s the plan?,’” Ward recalled to Bristol Live when asked when he found out he would be going out on loan. “He said, ‘I don’t really know yet whether you’re going to be number one or go on loan.’
“Then I came back in first day of pre-season still without an answer which could have gone good or bad. It could have meant that I was going to be number one or meant that I’m going to be searching around for a loan.
“But in the end he said, I think two weeks in he said, you’re going to go out on loan and then it was on me and my agent to find a club and then luckily Forest Green came in for me, which is good geographically for me to go to. A lot of clubs are already sorted but it’s nice that Forest Green had that faith for me and back in to come in and play for them.”
When Taylor confirmed that the plan was to send Ward out on loan, it was initially met with frustration and scepticism from a number of supporters who had naturally formed an emotional attachment to the goalkeeper produced from the club’s own academy.
Additionally, some eyebrows were raised that the National League ended up being his destination but that wasn’t really a problem for Ward.
“Yeah, that wasn’t really a problem where I was going to go and in what league,” he added. “Obviously my job is to catch the ball, kick the ball, keep it, do everything properly throughout the game and I don’t think there’s too much difference between National League and League Two.
“A lot of teams in League Two are already sorted for goalkeepers. That’s one thing. Obviously, hearing the words from Steve Cotterill saying he wants me to come in and having a chat with him when I first got there was really promising.
“There were signs that the club is going somewhere and they want to get back up the league which is almost great for me because I wanted to get that promotion under my belt. That can help any player, but also it’s 25 minutes to the training ground for me so I could live at home and that was another key factor for me.”
Ward ended up making 28 league appearances for Forest Green and quickly found a place in the hearts of the fanbase who attributed a good amount of their success so far this season to their on-loan goalkeeper’s performances.
Manager Steve Cotterill was quick to pay tribute to the shot stopper following his deadline day recall with the phone call from Rovers detailing the news to Ward coming while in a hotel in Dagenham ready to play the following evening.
The Gloucestershire outfit will have to go on and try to secure promotion without the heroics of the Gas goalkeeper for the remainder of the campaign but they did invite him back for last weekend’s win against Eastleigh to have the opportunity to say goodbye to the supporters properly.
“Massively beneficial,” Ward declared on his loan spell. “Very good for me. The manager there was amazing with me. Sort of pointed out early on what my strengths and weaknesses are and what I need to work on and how we were going to get me to be a better goalkeeper.
“And he did amazingly in working me with that, especially the goalkeeper coach as well. And I’m very thankful and grateful for that club, staff, players for having me there and helping me develop.
“There’s always that desire to sort of get promoted no matter what club you’re at,” he added. “ But when I found out that I was coming back here, it’s just another opportunity to play more games in a higher division which was my main aspect and goal. Then my mindset flipped onto Rovers then and how I’m going to help the team and what I’m going to be doing to make sure I’m getting better as well even though I’m not at Forest Green anymore.”
Although one performance doesn’t define a season, there were certainly promising signs from Ward’s first appearance back in a Rovers shirt as the 21-year-old picked up the man of the match award against Stockport.
The goalkeeper made a couple of good saves but what particularly stood out was his anticipation and reading of the game, coming well out of his box at times to clear the ball, be that with his head or feet.
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It’s always been clear that Ward has been extremely comfortable with the ball at his feet with his trajectory as a modern day goalkeeper knowing no limits. However, there seemed to be an extra degree of maturity and confidence about the academy graduate compared to last season that will certainly put him in good stead.
“I think there’s a few things I needed to work on coming to the end of the season,” Ward reflected. “Obviously, presence is a big thing for a goalkeeper and making sure you demand your box. I think that’s massive in League One, especially with a lot of teams who want to cross it in and stuff.
“But I feel like I’ve done my work on that in the National League and I’ve conceded goals which I shouldn’t have conceded from making mistakes, but I feel like they’ve helped me grow as a player in terms of demanding the box, taking crosses, sweeping up, and I think that’s only going to improve my game.
”Listen, I always back my abilities, whether that’s last season, this season. I always want to play, I’m always going to do everything I can to play but there’s always that competition side of it and I want to play as many games for this club as I can because like I said, it’s my home club.
“It’s where I’m from and it’s an opportunity to do something great here. So I’ve just got to keep pushing myself, training off the pitch, on the pitch and doing everything.”