Blues star: How I fell victim to the gangsters; Criminals are preying on the rich young hotshots, warns fallen idol Mark Ward.

Byline: ADAM ASPINALL

AFORMER Blues player who spent four years in jail on drugs charges has warned that gangsters are targeting other young Premiership footballers.

Mark Ward, 46, knows better than most about the perils of the criminal underworld after agreeing to babysit a house for a 'friend' to look after an unspecified stash.

The stash turned out to be cocaine with a street value of pounds 645,000 which was discovered by police during a raid in May 2005.

The former right winger refused to name names once arrested and was duly sentenced to eight years, but was released early on May 11.

Now re-united with his family and looking for a way back into football, the former Birmingham City player is eager to warn rich young soccer stars about the dangers of befriending criminals.

He said: "In every city in the country there are footballers with lots of cash and everybody wants to hang around with them..

"In a way it is only a matter of time until the more unsavoury characters single them out. But that is when they must be strong and make the right choices.

"It is not always as easy as that and in many ways you just don't want to know what the people who are being friendly with you do for a living. You just want to have a good time and enjoy their company.

"You don't want to be paranoid, you want to see the good in people." Ward certainly saw the good in local drug lord Sean O'Toole when he moved to Birmingham after signing from his boyhood heroes Everton in 1994.

The pair became pals after the talented winger was beaten up in

Libertys nightclub, on the Hagley Road, shortly after joining the club.

They socialised together, with Ward even leaving his shadowy pal the keys to his posh flat when he was at away games.

But it was not until a steward at St Andrews told him about O'Toole's background that he learned the truth.

Assassination The criminal was eventually killed in an assassination-style shooting while drinking in PJ's Moon and Sixpence pub in Birmingham city centre on December 21, 1997.

Ward said: "His background did not put me off Sean, not one bit because he was a great guy with me. But it just goes to show how as a footballer it is difficult to avoid people like that.

"If you are born and brought up in a rough area like I was, you would be telling lies if you said you did not know people who were involved in the drugs trade, or in crime or anything like that.

"It is almost impossible to avoid them but I would advise all young footballers these days to make very careful choices. If you don't, it is only a matter of time until someone takes advantage of your good nature." Ward is not the only Birmingham-based footballer to have been linked to criminals.

Only last week West Brom striker Roman Bednar was caught on camera buying cocaine from a drug dealer. He has been suspended by the club pending an investigation.

In 2005 the Sunday Mercury uncovered a video of former Villa striker Darius Vassell driving in convoy with known gangsters in his pounds 120,000 Lamborghini.

The home-movie style film also showed a masked gunman bragging as he loaded what looked like a semi-automatic weapon.

Another scene showed a gang member acting out a drive-by shooting as he races through Birmingham's city centre streets.

And last year Aston Villa defender Zat Knight was arrested along with his brother Carlos at their home in Erdington.

Zat was eventually released without charge but his brother was jailed for six years for dealing in heroin and cocaine.

Drugs In court it was claimed that Carlos Knight was able to buy drugs in bulk after his brother handed him cash on the day he joined Villa in a pounds 3.5 million deal, unaware of what it would be used for.

Ward admits he's still in "prison mode" after four years behind bars but said he still looks back at his time at St Andrews fondly.

In two years with the Blues he managed to help the team win the Second Division title in 1996.

He left soon after and finished his playing days at lower-league clubs, abroad and then briefly in management before his downfall.

One low moment which the former soccer star feels sums-up his spectacular fall from grace was during a handcuffed visit to hospital while in prison.

Ward explains: "You'd have thought I was a mass murderer.

"I could see that everyone in the room was looking at me and I knew what they'd be thinking.

'What has he done wrong? Is he a murderer, a rapist? He must be dangerous to have those great big cuffs and chains restraining him.' "I hated every second of being in the hospital and never thought I'd say this, but I just wanted to get back to prison.

"I put my head down, but not before noticing a local lad sitting down wearing an Everton shirt.

"He recognised me straight away, and I don't think he could believe what he was seeing. I felt completely ashamed." Ward is looking for a way back into football but admits it will take a "brave man" to give him a job.

But he hopes that his mistakes will be an example to other young footballers about the pitfalls.

He said: "The biggest victims of my crime were my kids. They are the ones that suffered the most.

"I'm doing my best to make it up to them now but I also want to make sure that no other young footballers make the same mistakes that I did.

"The best thing I can say to them is if they want to know what to do, they should read my book.

"If it helps just one of them then it will all have been worthwhile."

CAPTION(S):

Mark Ward playing for Blues and, left, today. Below, gangster Sean O'Toole. To order a signed copy of . the Mark Ward book, Right Wing to B-Wing, in hardback for pounds 15 contact publishers Football World on 01708 744 333, or order online at www.footballworld.co.uk. Alternatively, send a cheque for pounds 15 to Football World, 103 Douglas Road, Hornchurch, Essex, RM11 1AW. WARNING: Mark Ward, top, in his Blues' playing days. Above, Darius Vassell and Zat Knight are two players to find themselves linked to criminals. Inset, a shot from the video of Vassell and gang members.