Helen Ward: Wales' record scorer retires from international duty and will quit club football

Helen Ward had her children at a time where there was no maternity support for players written into contracts, something that only came into the women's game in England in January 2022

Wales' record goalscorer Helen Ward has announced her immediate retirement from international football.

The 36-year old Watford striker will also bring her club career to a close at the end of this season.

She played 105 games for Wales, scoring 44 goals.

"Thank you to every single person whose path I have crossed on and off the field and thank you football for making me who I am," Ward said in a statement on social media.

Wales' male and female international sides have seen their respective record scorers retire in 2023, with Ward following Gareth Bale who hung up his boots in January.

She is one of only nine people to have represented Wales 100 times along with Jess Fishlock, Lauren Dykes, Sophie Ingle, Natasha Harding, Angharad James and men's internationals Bale, Chris Gunter and Wayne Hennessey.

Ward, who was born in England, said her "life changed" after she made her first Wales appearance in 2008.

"I stood for the anthem and suddenly, it became more than just a game," she said.

"Never did I imagine that that honour would be bestowed upon me more than 100 times over.

"I was part of a family. As an outsider from across the bridge, I was welcomed into the most special group of people and I never looked back. Those girls, that team and Cymru became everything to me.

"Playing for Wales became my why. It's the reason I kept going and wanting to improve, the reason I came back after having my children, why I didn't let Covid be the end and why I realise that it's not where you are born that counts, but where you feel like you belong, and I've never felt more at home than when I'm with my team, in Wales."

Ward's decision to retire was influenced by Wales' failure to reach the 2023 World Cup, despite Gemma Grainger's team breaking new ground in qualifying by reaching the play-offs.

Ward was an extra-time substitute when Wales' World Cup dreams were ended in an agonising defeat to Switzerland, and said she would consider her future afterwards.

"It breaks my heart that I didn't make it to a major tournament with this team, that I wasn't at my peak when so many of my team-mates were and are," Ward said.

"But I know they will make it soon and they will shine on the biggest stage of all and I cannot wait to be their best cheerleader when that happens.

"It's not always been easy, but it's been the best ride of my life and I couldn't have done it without my girls. Some of you have been there from day one and plenty more have joined along the way. They're a special bunch and they're my family."

Ward played the latter part of her Wales career as a part-time footballer and a full-time mother, having had two children.

Having made her club debut as a 15-year-old in 2001, Ward has experienced both the amateur and professional eras of women's football.

She started her career at Watford before playing for Arsenal, Chelsea and Reading, and returning to Watford in 2017.

"I've won titles and promotions and I've suffered relegations. I've experienced cup final wins and penalty shootout heartache, last-minute winners and heartbreaking last-second defeats," she said.

"I've been in mid-table mediocrity and had a couple of seasons cut short in a global pandemic. I've been a guaranteed starter and impact player and the one who can't get a game I've been the baby of the squad and the captain. There's not much I haven't seen or been through.

"But what all of those moments and experiences have taught me is that while winning is fantastic and losing is unbearable, it's actually the people you share those times with that keep you going.

"I've been fortunate enough to have played alongside some of the greatest players we've seen from these shores and around the world, but I've also met some of the best people who I can now call my friends."