Ward turns down Norway move (www.eleven-a-side.com) August 23, 2006 Bohemians and Republic of Ireland under-21 star Stephen Ward has decided against a proposed move to Norwegian top flight side Fredrikstad. Ward has been linked with several clubs across the water over the past 18 months, spending time on trial at Sunderland while Ipswich Town were also monitoring his progress. The 21-year-old helped the Irish under-21s to victory over Greece in a Uefa qualifier last week and is again expected to play a central role when Belgium come to Galway next week. But his club future is on home soil – for the time being at least. He told the Irish Sun: “I don’t think this move is for me. If I am going to go away then I would like to go to England. It’s as simple as that. “I don’t know if going to Norway is really going to be beneficial to my career. Maybe is it a better standard than the eircom League but I just don’t know how good it would be for me. “They wanted me to sign a three-and-a-half year contract. If things didn’t work out, it would be a long time for me to be stuck there. “My contract with Bohs is up at the end of next season so, even if nothing happens for now, the worst case scenario is that I can move to England as a free agent at that stage.”