Joel Ward

Joel Edward Philip Ward (born 29 October 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back or centre-back for EFL Championship club Swansea City. A versatile defender who can play anywhere across the back-line, Ward was an academy graduate of Portsmouth. He made his senior debut in 2009 following a loan to Bournemouth, and made 96 appearances for the club. In May 2012, Ward signed for Crystal Palace, and later helped the side achieve promotion to the Premier League in his first season. He has since gone on to make the most top-flight appearances of any player in the club's history, as well as serving the 2023–24 season as club captain and winning the FA Cup in 2025. He departed the club following his release at the end of the 2024–25 season, having been the last active remaining player from the club's 2012–13 Premier League promotion-winning campaign, and amassed a total of 330 league appearances across 13 seasons.