Wales | Danny Ward - Aberdeen FC

Danny Ward | RedMatchday Interview

Once a Red, always a Red. Be it Liverpool or Aberdeen, red is definitely the colour for shot stopper extraordinaire Danny Ward, a young goalkeeper who has taken Pittodrie so conclusively by storm this season that he already has his own terrace chant.

That in itself is a rare accolade, one given to few and only that usually only after a few years of yeoman service. Danny Cool took about three games to get there. It’s an appropriate song too given the composure and icy calm that he brings to his performances with the Dons. That combination of attitude, temperament and ability makes it seem a sure thing that Danny will go on to play at the very highest levels of the game, so enjoy him while you can.

Ward is clearly enjoying life in Scotland and especially the rapport he has built up with the supporters.

The Dons keeper spoke recently to RedMatchday Magazine:

“It is nice that I seem to have this connection with the fans. I really appreciate their support, especially as I have only been here for a short period of time. The song is one of those that you can’t get out of your head! You go to bed signing it when you are trying to get to sleep!

“The first time I heard the tune was when we were in Croatia playing Rijeka. I think it was when the third goal went in, I was thinking “I know the tune to that song” but I couldn’t quite place it. I didn’t realise they were singing my name, I could not hear that. Afterwards, one of the boys spoke to me about it and told me it was

“Daddy Cool”. It’s great to hear, it’s a nice confidence booster.

“The game in Croatia that night would probably rank up there as one of my favourite games. We went into it with most people not giving us much of a chance, especially after our performance in the round before and the fact that they had such a formidable European home record. It was just the perfect away performance, we were superb on the counter-attack. We scored goals at crucial times, Kenny got his first goal for the club and the lads in defence were superb. Everyone played well, despite the fact it was so hot”.

The Dons’ good start to the new campaign has been built on extremely sound defensive foundations, Danny playing a big part in that. Nonetheless, he’s quick to pass on the credit.

“Everyone in the team knows what their defensive duties are. We are very well drilled. The manager knows the way he wants us to defend and the lads have really taken to it. They all understand what he wants us to do. We understand there has to be that desire to get on the end of the ball when it is in your box. It has been a good start for us defensively and hopefully we can carry that through now until the end of the season.

“Ash has done very well, it’s been interesting to see because I knew him before he came here. He has come on leaps and bounds. He was always a good player but there is a real maturity about Ash now. He knows what he wants to do on the pitch and he is a commanding figure. He is a big player for us. If he carries on the way he is going then people at international level will be unable to ignore him”.

One thread that comes out in these player interviews down the years is that plenty of them only found their eventual position after years of trial and error. In Danny’s case, it was a little bit different…

“I got put in goal as a six year old. There was one day in training when I got a bit excited and injured everyone! We did not have a team because I had injured everyone by accident. I was a big, gangly six-year-old, throwing my arms everywhere. So for the safety of my teammates, the manager asked my dad if it was ok for them to give me a go in goal and I have been there ever since. That decision was a blessing in disguise and I will always be grateful to the manager of my school team for making it!”

Such eccentricity seems to be par for the course for goalkeepers of course. Has Danny found that all his various goalkeeping colleagues are all a bit barmy?

“People say we are different because we spend a lot of time in each other’s company, so the banter between the goalkeepers at any club is decent. I think sometimes people find it hard to understand why we get on because we are all going for the one spot in the team, but at every club I have been at and every keeper I have worked with, I have never had a problem. We have always been quite tight, we have always been quite good friends. Langers was brilliant with me. Browny has been brilliant with me. Danny, who is on loan, is a good lad and then you have the two young boys David and Robbie who have me in stiches every day in training. I think others players just don’t understand us! We are different creatures”.

Danny has, of course, ended up training with some of the game’s biggest names during his time at Liverpool. It’s clear that their attitude to the game – and to people – has rubbed off on him.

“I went to Liverpool from Wrexham who were non-league and then I was put up to train at Melwood and had to train with legends like Stevie Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. First you are in awe but after a while you realise they are just normal people at the end of the day who happen to be very good at football.

“I enjoyed spending a lot of time off the pitch with guys like that in and around the dressing room. It is an obvious thing to say but you are only going to improve if you are training with guys like that who have that sort of quality.

“If there was one player I could pick to be in my team from Liverpool, past and present, it would be Stevie G. He really was a player who had everything. He can defend, he can spray passes, he can get assists as well as goals. Off the field he was a top man, a really nice guy. He was brilliant with the young boys as well. He appreciated it was difficult for a young lad coming into that environment. During my first day he came over and introduced himself. He made a bit of a fuss about me and I felt a million dollars. He did the same with every young player who came up to train with the first team”.

Dressing room spirit is a cornerstone of any successful side and we certainly have that at Pittodrie as Danny explains.

“I have been in dressing rooms where there is a language barrier. You don’t have that here and it makes it a lot easier for everyone to get on. Everyone seems to be on the same wavelength. There are no cliques, no egos. Everyone gets on with each other.

“Best trainer? There are a few. We have a little game at the end of training most days with three teams. The team that loses has to line up in front of the rest of us. You then have to choose the worst two players after a vote. Those players then get quite a bit of stick from the boys! When we are playing games in training, I like to have Willo Flood in front of me. He runs about and really puts the work in. Always wants to win. Jonny Hayes is also good, he is like a machine and runs for ever.

“Willo would certainly be up there as biggest moaner too! It would be a toss-up between Willo and Barry. Barry has me in stiches some mornings because you don’t know if he is moaning to be serious or he is trying to have a bit of banter with someone. I can’t take him seriously where Willo is genuinely moaning!

“There is a good camaraderie in that dressing room. I sit beside Paul Quinn and he is funny. Reynolds likes to throw in the odd little grenade to see who takes the bait! Shay is also a character.

“There is a bit of banter in the dressing room between the home nations! Obviously Niall’s Northern Ireland are doing very well and Adam is involved away with the Republic but the Scottish lads are quite quiet at the moment! Also Wales are ahead of England in the rankings at the moment so I can give Shay a bit of stick about that!

“All the boys give all the international lads a lot of encouragement before we go off on our travels, although less so with Adam as they are in Scotland’s group!”

Danny is on the brink of history with Wales as they look set to qualify for their first ever European Championships and their first senior tournament since 1958.

“It would have been nice to have sealed qualification last month. It was disappointing, but if you sit back and look at it in the cold light of day, to take four points from six, no goals conceded, we are still unbeaten, it was still a decent effort and can be classified as another good camp. We have taken another step closer anyway.

“Next week we play Bosnia away and Andorra at home. We need just one point from those two games so we are in a great position. You would hope in our final game we would be able to take at least a point, but stranger things have happened in football!

“If we are able to get that final point it would be massive. When I was growing up, the Welsh team always underachieved and in the end the fans never really turned up. Now there is a real hope and expectation, which the lads seem to be embracing. It would be wonderful to be going to France next year.

“We have a good group of players. A lot of the senior boys have come through together. The guys who are 25, 26 all have 50 or 60 caps. That can only be good for the team. They have a lot of experience. The big name players like Bale and Ramsey are also our experienced players. They are also very good with the young boys and that is important because we have a young squad. That is the exciting thing for Welsh football at the minute.

“Players coming through from the youth international levels to U21 level then to the full team together is important. It is what German did. They had an unbelievable U21 team who I seem to remember hammered England. Then seven or eight of those players were in the winning world cup team in Brazil last year. It becomes like playing at club level. You know each other’s games, you know each other so well.

“Obviously, Gareth Bale is the main man for us. His talent is unbelievable. That comes from a lot of practise and a lot of work in the gym. The shape of the guy is incredible. He is like a racehorse, there is nothing of him, just pure muscle. He is a really nice bloke, quite quiet and unassuming”.

Boys like Danny and Niall look set to give us all something to watch at the Euros next summer…..