Player Profile
Player Caps - 84 Eng
Goals - 62 Eng
Sam Ward is a natural-born goal scorer. His prowess in the circle saw him force his way into the international teams in 2014, and he has gone from strength to strength since — a huge threat from both open play and penalty corners, establishing himself as one of the deadliest attackers in world hockey, including helping England to a bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
He suffered a horrific eye injury during the 2019 FIH Olympic Qualifier against Malaysia that threatened to end his career, but came back stronger and hungrier than before, finishing as joint-highest scorer with six goals at the 2021 EuroHockey Championships with England before adding five more with GB at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He wears a specially designed face mask in play as a legacy of the injury, which cost him vision in his left eye.
Before becoming an international hockey player, Sam worked as a car salesman. He returned to help England win Commonwealth Games bronze in Birmingham in 2022, and went on to represent England at the 2023 World Cup and the 2023 EuroHockey Championships, taking his combined England and Great Britain caps beyond 350 through the FIH Pro League.
A three-time Olympian, Ward competed at his third Olympic Games at Paris 2024, having previously featured at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, and has continued to lead the England forward line through the 2025-26 season and into preparations for the 2026 FIH World Cup. He now plies his trade domestically for Old Georgians, having previously featured for Leicester, Holcombe, Beeston and Loughborough Students.
