By Phil Tooley

It's been a long road to Saltergate for new signing Jamie Ward. The diminutive striker, who can also operate in midfield or behind a pair of strikers, was initially linked with a move from Aston Villa to Chesterfield in the summer but the signing of Paul Shaw meant that the door closed on the 5'5" Northern Ireland Under 21 Squad Member, who subsequently joined League Two Torquay United.

As the January transfer window opened, Walsall were believed to have shown an interest in the man who's scored 11 goals in a struggling side this season and, ahead of signing for Spireites, he was destined to talk with League One Leyton Orient and League Two Wycombe Wanderers, but the lure of Saltergate and Roy McFarland was enough to tempt Ward to Derbyshire after he'd requested a move away from Torquay.

That transfer request followed a change in ownership and manager, he'd previously stated that is was ex Gulls Boss Ian Atkins that persuaded him to move to the English Riviera and convinced him to sign a three year deal.

"That was unsettling," said the 20 year old, "But in a way it's good to experience that from such a young age. Managers come in, get sacked everyday but it's not everyday you get a new Chairman and to honest it was the new Chairman that began to ruin things at Torquay, there were all sorts of rumours about who wouldn't be there and they started to get through to the lads there.

The size of the fee paid by McFarland hasn't been disclosed, but it's understood that United have had Clubs previously interested in taking on Ward with rumours of £100,000 offers, though The Gulls have confirmed they have a 25% sell on clause should he move on for a fee in the future.

Ward began at Aston Villa, he was born in Birmingham, and qualifies for Northern Ireland through his Grandfather. He was a member of Villa's 2004 FA Youth Cup final side but they lost 4-0 on aggregate to Middlesbrough and Jamie was in the side at right back. He also made a couple of appearances for Northern Ireland's Youth side that season.

How did he come to the attention of Villa? "I was playing for my local side, Kingshurst and we were told by our Manager that someone from a big Club was coming to watch us, so it was a case of playing to the best of your ability and that day the scout spotted me and he watched me again and I was then invited to join Villa for some training. I was only about eight at the time."

"It was great because at a Club like Villa you keep up with all the leading training and different techniques. We had some players come on trial that were all good players but because they hadn't been training at that level for very long rarely stood out as much."

So why right back in the Youth Cup? "The Manager asked if I could do a job there. I wasn't too sure about wanting to do it but he told me that was where I was playing anyway. I just wanted to play and we got to the final, we lost though, but we didn't concede a goal until the semi finals, that's how good our defence was. To be honest, even though we were runners up, it was still a great achievement that I'm proud of. If you look at the players that have progressed like Gabriel Agbonlahor, Craig Gardner, Luke Moore, good lads, good team."

Later in 2004 he suffered nasty injuries in a car crash that set back his footballing development just as he was beginning to make a mark in Aston Villa's reserve side though he did sign as a professional the following year.

What happened and what were the consequences of that accident? "I just lost control of my car and hit a tree. I was in hospital for five days but I got the best treatment available and I've recovered well from it having dislocated my elbow and fractured it in seven places, I broke my nose and had a severe gash to my knee, but as you can see, it's had no long term effects but it did keep me from playing for four months at a crucial time in my career."

"I told the Academy Director that I was worried about my contract and he then told me he's ensure I got another year so all of the weight and worry was taken off me and I'm really grateful to Brian Jones, Tony MacAndrew, Kevin MacDonald and Gordon Cowans for the faith they showed in me. Gordon Cowans still does it on the training pitch when he's explaining to the lads. His passing is unbelievable, he just hasn't got the legs now but you can spot his class a mile off."

However, towards the end of the 2005-06 then Manager David O'Leary deemed him surplus to requirements and he went on loan to Stockport County.

His senior bow cam as sub for ex Sheffield Wednesday man Matthew Hamshaw in a 1-0 win at Bury in March 2006, it was goalless when he entered the action. He also helped turn a draw into a victory, again as Hamshaw's replacement, in his next appearance against Oxford United and those two turnarounds persuaded Manager Jim Gannon to start him during the remainder of his loan spell, generally on the right of midfield.

His only County goal came in a 3-1 win over Shrewsbury Town and his record at Edgeley Park looks impressive, five wins, three draws and just one loss, a 4-0 thumping at future employers Torquay United!

Stockport County and Wrexham, as well as Chesterfield, vied for his signature last summer but it was Torquay that won the race and he rewarded them with eleven goals, six of them coming in pairs against Chester City, Milton Keynes Dons and Bury.

He asked for a transfer in December, soon after being called up to the Northern Irish Under 21 squad for a game with Germany, and that alerted a number of Clubs as to his availability and former Torquay Manager McFarland won the race, though he was tempted by another Club, "I was very impressed with Wycombe Wanderers but the step up in the league was important, I wanted to test myself at this level and hopefully I'll prove myself but only time will tell."

Ward played (as a sub) in the Northern Ireland U21 side in their home game against Wales (lost 4-0) recently but he was unable to face, another new Spireite, Kyle Critchell, who withdrew from the Wales squad with an ankle injury. The two up and comers know each other well and Ward has spoken of Critchell's satisfaction with his short time at Saltergate as being important in his decision to sign for Chesterfield.

An impressive sub debut against Bournemouth was followed by a low key 90 minutes as Millwall last weekend and Jamie knows there's work to be done on the training ground, "The Manager's got to bed me in, watch me and see how I play and allow me to get to know the players a bit more. Before the Millwall game I'd only trained with the lads for four days after being away on International duty, so Thursday and Friday in both weeks, that's all."

And, as just about every newcomer says, the dressing room at Saltergate is a good place to be, "To be honest, you probably couldn't get a better bunch of lads, there's no groups of the older lads or the younger lads sticking together, everyone talks to everyone, sometimes you get cliques at clubs, there were a few at Torquay that didn't help in the dressing room."

And the new boy has a special reason to look forwards to this afternoon's game, "One of my mates plays for Vale, Luke Rodgers, so I want to pull one over him. He lives near me and we often play football together in the summer time to keep up fitness levels and our parents know each other. I've asked him advice on clubs, who to sign for, and he's given me some sound advice that I've been very happy about."

Let's hope that Jamie comes out on top as his new side battles to break away from the dreaded bottom four.