HE SHOT, he scored, it must be Peter Ward.... Peter Ward.

Peter Ward was the most popular player ever to play at the Goldstone Ground.

HE SHOT, he scored, it must be Peter Ward.... Peter Ward. The song reverberated around the Goldstone throughout the late Seventies and early Eighties as fans paid homage to Albion's greatest ever goalscorer.
Peter Ward came from an aero engine fitter with Rolls Royce to the England squad during a fantastic spell with the Seagulls. Ward's golden era at the Goldstone kicked-off in May 1975, when the late Peter Taylor signed him from Southern League Burton Albion for just £4,000 as a replacement for Fred Binney.
And who would ever forget his debut with a goal after 50 seconds of his debut in a 1-1 draw at Hereford. Ward went on to score six times in eight games as Albion missed promotion to the old Second Division in 1975-76 by a place and three points. But that was nothing to what Ward achieved in the next four incredible seasons under the Albion Manager Alan Mullery.

1976-77: The Albion are promoted as runners-up and Peter Ward leads the way with 36 goals, 32 of them in the League, to break a club record that had stood for 47 years. He was also the leading marksman in the entire Football League and earned Albion eight penalties.

1977-78: He his is the top scorer again with 17 as Albion narrowly missing out on consecutive promotions. He is third in a national poll of the most popular players in the country, behind Glen Hoddle and Steve Coppell. Also that season Ward makes a sensational entrance to the international stage for England under 21's at the Goldstone in front of an 18,000 crowd. Everyone and his dog just new he would score that night and he did just that scoring a hat-trick in a 6-0 annihilation of Norway. Ron Greenwood then selects him for the full squad a month later for a trip to Luxembourg.

1978-79: Ward tops the scoring charts once more with 13 goals to help Mullery's men win promotion to the old First Division. One of them is in the unforgettable final fixture at Newcastle, when Albion clinched their place among the elite.

1979-80: The rise in standard makes no difference to Ward. He is leading scorer yet again with 16 goals as the Seagulls consolidate in their first season in the top flight. In October 1980 Ward teamed up with Taylor and Brian Clough when he was sold to Nottingham Forest for £400,000. That was a sad day for all Albion fans.
But two seasons later with attendances falling Mike Bailey (The Chairman) brought him back to the Goldstone for a four-month loan spell before Peter Ward played and made his home in America.
In all he hit 95 goals in 227 games and his name was still synonymous with the most memorable moments in the club's history right to the end. Albion's run through to the FA Cup final in 1983 began with another victory at Newcastle, by the only goal in a third round replay by He shot, he scored, it must be Peter Ward.