Welsh international goalkeeper Darren Ward signed for Norwich on August 6th 2004 to act as cover for Robert Green and Paul Gallacher. Formerly with Mansfield and Notts County, Darren was Nottingham Forest's first choice keeper for much of 2003/4 until injury in February ruled him out of the remainder of the campaign. Forest's signing of Everton's Paul Gerrard allowed the Canaries to swoop for the five-times-capped Ward for a fee of £250,000

Norwich announced at the beginning of April 2006 that they would not be offering Ward a new contract when his expired in the summer of 2006. He made two appearances for the Canaries, the final one being as substitute in the FA Cup Third Round defeat to West Ham during which he was suffering from a back injury which saw him ruled out for the remainder of the 2005/6 season

Darren joined Barnsley on trial in July 2006, following their sale of Scott Flinders to Crystal Palace. He then joined Sheffield United on trial, sitting on the bench as the Blades road out a convincing 3-0 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle on their Scottish tour. On 30th July 2006, he was linked with another Yorkshire club with media speculation linking him with Leeds United. He joined them on trial and was expected to sign as cover for the injured Neil Sullivan. Leeds then opted for the loan signing of Fulham's Tony Warner on 4th August 2006 and on the same day, Darren signed a one year contract with Sunderland.

Ward's performances for the Black Cats saw him recalled to the Welsh squad in November 2006

Ward remained with Sunderland after their promotion to the Premiership even thoiugh they spent £9million on Scottish international Craig Gordon. Following a run of heavy defeats for Sunderland, Gordon was dropped In December 2007 and Ward made his Premiership debut with Sunderland, keeping a clean sheet as his side won 1-0 over Derby. Gordon reclaimed his place after three games. During the January 2008 transfer window, Ward rejected a move to Scottish giants Rangers, preffering to stay and fight to be the first-choice keeper at The Stadium of Light.