Burnley Announce 2-Year Contract Extension for Republic of Ireland Star Stephen Ward

Burnley have announced that Stephen Ward has signed a contract extension with the club which will see him stay at Turf Moor until 2019 - with the option of extending a further year.

Ward starred in the surprise 3-2 defeat of reigning Premier League champions Chelsea, scoring a speculative effort from a tight angle - giving the Clarets a 2-0 lead on 39 minutes, and now it appears he's been rewarded.

“It’s great and long may it continue,” Ward told Burnley's official website after signing his new deal.

“I’m delighted to have signed. It’s just great to be part of a club like this at the minute and hopefully we can have another successful season.”

Ward's attention then turned to their shock away victory at Chelsea, where Burnley made the Blues pay for their players' lack of discipline.

“To find yourself 3-0 up at half-time at Stamford Bridge doesn’t happen very often,” the Republic of Ireland international said.

“I’ve not scored many like that in my career. I just took a short free-kick, played a one-two with Corky, who played a great ball back to me.

“Thankfully it sat up nicely and ended up in the back of the net.

“I was delighted – and Vokesy as well with two fantastic goals – and, all-in-all, we were just happy with the result.

“We put in a great performance and we have to be very proud of what we did.

“There was a big thing made of our away form last year so it’s nice to get that first one under our belts and let’s roll on next week and have a big game in front of our home crowd.”