The Derby County star who taunted Nottingham Forest fans is now managing in Dubai | OneFootball

Derby County star Jamie Ward taunted Nottingham Forest fans and then ended up taking his coaching career to Dubai...

Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Dubai, and Jamie Ward are now all part of a rather bizarre football story that few supporters would have predicted when the forward was winding up Forest fans at the City Ground.

Jamie Ward played for the two great rivals and spent years building a reputation as an unpredictable and combative character during his career in English football, enjoying spells across the Championship and lower divisions.

Yet his journey has taken an especially unexpected turn since leaving the professional game, with the former Derby County and Nottingham Forest player now embarking on a managerial career thousands of miles away in the UAE.

Jamie Ward's Nottingham Forest antics with Derby County

Action Images

Ward’s relationship with Forest supporters was already complicated before he ever pulled on their shirt. His first Derby goal after joining the Rams permanently came at the City Ground in September 2011, in what happened to be an extraordinary match.

Forest defender Chris Cohen suffered a serious knee injury, but Derby continued playing and Ward eventually scored the equaliser. The Rams went on to win 2-1 despite playing almost the entire match with ten men, making Ward’s goal particularly memorable for the home supporters.

Ward spent years deliberately winding Nottingham Forest fans up while playing for their local rivals, something he openly acknowledged when he eventually joined Forest on a free transfer in 2015. "What's in the past is in the past. I like to wind people up," he admitted, explaining via the BBC that he had deliberately done it.

He added: "It was to spice up the local rivalry and it got me a bit more stick than I wanted. I enjoyed it at the time but hopefully the fans can see past that and get behind me". He knew Forest supporters might struggle to forget his previous antics, making his eventual move all the more awkward.

Jamie Ward's post-Derby career with Nottingham Forest and beyond

Action Images

Ward signed a four-year contract with Forest, but his time at the City Ground never quite developed as supporters might have expected. He was sent out on loan to Burton Albion, Cardiff City, and Charlton Athletic during his time with the club before eventually moving on permanently.

His playing career then took him progressively further down the English football pyramid, with spells at Scunthorpe United and Solihull Moors followed by time with Buxton and in non-league football.

It was a remarkable change of trajectory for a player who had once been a regular Championship forward and a central character in one of English football’s fiercest local rivalries.

Eventually, Ward’s playing career took him somewhere few Derby or Forest supporters would have expected. The forward then moved to the UAE, where an even more unusual chapter was about to begin.

Jamie Ward's coaching career in UAE

Action Images

In July 2026, Ward took another unexpected step by becoming manager of Phoenix United, a newly-established club in Dubai. The former Derby and Forest forward is now trying to establish himself on the other side of the touchline.

Funnily enough, former Aston Villa and Burnley defender Matt Lowton is working alongside him as an assistant. It is a fittingly unconventional next chapter for a player who was never afraid to embrace controversy or make himself a talking point.

Ward spent much of his playing career challenging expectations, from deliberately spicing up the Derby-Forest rivalry to dropping through the divisions after leaving the Championship but rarely ever settling down for long.

Now, rather than winding up Nottingham Forest fans at the City Ground, he is building a coaching career in Dubai. It is certainly not the managerial route many would have predicted for him. His slightly unusual character was perhaps always likely to require an unorthodox route into coaching, though.