Lucy Ward: ‘I loved Leeds … now I look at the club through different eyes’

‘I get a lot of direct messages during a game and obviously I don’t read them,” Lucy Ward says as, in her role as one of the most astute voices in English football, she explains the ritual abuse that stalks her and other women working in the men’s game.

Ward’s consistent excellence meant that she was chosen as BT Sport’s co-commentator during the pivotal Premier League game of this season, when Manchester City blitzed Arsenal in April to virtually ensure they would become champions again. But rather than allowing Ward’s vast experience and knowledge of football to enhance the experience of watching such an important match, many men sent her venomous messages.

The 49-year-old, who was selected for England Under-21s at the age of 16 and played for Leeds and Doncaster Belles across more than a dozen years, did immensely valuable work helping young players such as James Milner, Aaron Lennon, Fabian Delph and Kalvin Phillips at the Leeds academy. Ward was the head of education and welfare at Leeds for 17 years and a job she loved ended only because her partner, Neil Redfearn, was sacked as manager of the men’s first team by Massimo Cellino, who then owned the club.

A poisonous campaign against her was exposed at an employment tribunal in 2016. Ward won her sex discrimination case and Cellino was made to pay her damages of £290,000. The money could not compensate for the devastation Ward suffered or for the fact that, as she will soon explain, she has been quietly blocked from working in football welfare and education again.

After that ordeal Ward, who retains a balanced perspective and her good humour, can shrug off the stupidity of the typical troll. One day in 2021, for example, her commentary was praised by Gary Lineker,