Each programme this season comes with a unique, illustrated front cover marking a moment in Selhurst Park's 100-year history, with this edition commemorating Remembrance Weekend, which will be acknowledged before kick-off on Saturday.
Ward spoke about his own family's connection, including his grandparents memories of the conflict, in a wide-ranging feature interview which you can read now.
He also spoke about his long-term teammates, friendships off the pitch and the temptation to stay in the game or head over to the dark side - the media...
“It’s easier to analyse the game from afar,” he says, mulling it over.
“I’ve quite enjoyed what I've done on that side of things. I also understand things aren’t always perfect – you don’t go out there to make a mistake. You don’t go out there to do something wrong.
“It’s important for the media to help build people up and be positive as well, and not always nitpick at certain little things, because we’ve all been there. We’ve all made those mistakes along the way.
“When you’re a manager, you’re in the thick of it. It’s like being back playing; the difference is you can’t go out on the pitch and do what you want to do. It’s about leading the group and bringing out the best in the group.
“It’s about making sure that you create an environment that people want to go out there and cross that white line and go to battle for [the result]. There’s something that’s appealing about that, but it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. There’s always going to be a period of time when things are hard.”
Read the full interview NOW, as well as all your regular favourites: Doc Brown, Macca, Oliver Glasner, Marc Guehi and more...