- Chris Woods
-
For the jazz saxophonist, see Chris Woods (musician).
Chris Woods Personal information Full name Christopher Charles Eric Woods Date of birth 14 November 1959 Place of birth Swineshead, Lincolnshire, England Height 6 ft 2 in Playing position Goalkeeper Youth career 1975–1976 Nottingham Forest Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1976–1979 Nottingham Forest 0 (0) 1979–1981 Queens Park Rangers 63 (0) 1981–1986 Norwich City 216 (0) 1986–1991 Rangers 173 (0) 1991–1996 Sheffield Wednesday 107 (0) 1995 → Reading (loan) 5 (0) 1996 Colorado Rapids 23 (0) 1996 → Southampton (loan) 4 (0) 1997 Sunderland 0 (0) 1997–1998 Burnley 12 (0) – Total 603 (0 ) National team 1979–1983 England U-21 6 (0) 1984–1989 England B 2 (0) 1985–1993 England 43 (0) Teams managed 1998- Everton (goalkeeping coach) 2011- United States (goalkeeping coach) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Christopher 'Chris' Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959 in Swineshead, Lincolnshire) is a former England international football goalkeeper,[1][2] who played in the Football League and Premier League for Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday, Reading, Southampton and Burnley, in the Scottish Football League for Rangers,[3] and in Major League Soccer for the Colorado Rapids.[4] He now works as a goalkeeping coach at Everton and United States.
Woods was Peter Shilton's long-time understudy in the England team in the mid to late 1980s, finally claiming the number one shirt for himself in the early 1990s. In all, he managed to accrue 43 caps in an eight year international career.
Contents
Club career
Nottingham Forest
Woods was a confident, brave, and agile goalkeeper, and his association with Shilton began at an early age when he signed for Nottingham Forest as an apprentice in 1976. Over the next three years he never made an appearance for Forest as they won promotion from the Football League Second Division in 1977 - Shilton had yet to arrive at this time - and then won the Football League First Division title straightaway. Shilton came to the club in September 1977 and did not miss a match.
However, Woods was given his chance to make an impact when he was selected by manager Brian Clough to play in Forest's League Cup fixtures that season, as Shilton had already appeared for previous club Stoke City in the competition and was therefore cup-tied. Forest reached the final where they played Liverpool at Wembley and Woods, still only 18, was thrust on to the big stage as an unknown outside of Nottingham, the game ended 0–0. He kept a second clean sheet in the replay and a John Robertson penalty won Forest the game and the Cup.
Woods' heroics were, however, never going to displace Shilton, whose form in the First Division was such that he was only ever going to miss a match if he became injured. Forest went on to win the League Cup again in 1979, but this time Shilton played. Woods was on the bench when Forest then won the European Cup with a 1–0 win over Malmö in Munich, and therefore gained a medal.
Queens Park Rangers
In the summer, Queens Park Rangers offered £250,000 for Woods, even though he was not yet 20 years old and had not made a First Division appearance. The move took place and Woods settled into Second Division life as QPR's first-choice goalkeeper. He played two seasons there before Norwich City offered £225,000 to take Woods to East Anglia.
Norwich City
As Norwich's goalkeeper, Woods firmly established himself as a top-class goalkeeper. In 1985, Norwich reached the League Cup final and Woods picked up his second winners medal when his side beat Sunderland 1–0 at Wembley, though Woods almost conceded when Sunderland player Clive Walker struck a penalty against his left-hand post. Norwich were relegated at the end of that season, but England coach Bobby Robson had seen enough to take Woods on a post-season tour of Mexico and the USA. The following season, Woods won a second division championship medal as Norwich won promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt. In 2002, he was voted into the club's Hall of Fame.
Rangers
After the tournament, Woods left Norwich for Rangers in a £600,000 deal as one of the original 'English invasion' of players (others of which included Ipswich and England defender Terry Butcher) brought to Glasgow by manager Graeme Souness (although this was at least partially because English clubs had been banned from European competition following the Heysel disaster, while Rangers were virtually guaranteed an annual European place).
Woods won a Scottish League Premier Division title medal and a Scottish League Cup medal in his first season. From November 1986 to January 1987, Woods set a British record by playing 1196 consecutive minutes of competitive football without conceding a goal.[5] His record finally came to an end from a goal by Adrian Sprott for Hamilton Academicals in a 1-0 win over Rangers at Ibrox in a Scottish cup tie.[6]
This record was arguably beaten by Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar after 75 minutes of their game against West Bromwich Albion on 27 January 2009. However Van der Sar conceded three goals against Gamba Osaka, in the 2008 Club World Cup in Yokohama, Japan, on 18 December 2008. Unless this competition is discounted, Woods' record stands, since Van der Sar next conceded on 4 March, in a Premier League game at Newcastle United, to Peter Løvenkrands, ending his record at either 1088 or 1490 minutes. Additionally, United had played other games in which goals had been conceded, but where Van der Sar did not play.[7]
Meanwhile, Woods won another Scottish League Cup winners medal with Rangers, even though Celtic regained the league title and won the Scottish Cup in 1987/88. Woods also suffered the ignominy of being sent off in an Old Firm game against Celtic after a spat with opposing centre forward Frank McAvennie - a misdemeanour which led to Woods and clubmate Butcher securing criminal convictions for "behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace".
Rangers regained the Scottish Premier League in 1989, though Woods missed half the season with an ear infection which, crucially for a goalkeeper, affected his balance.
By the summer of 1991, Woods had won another Scottish title medal with Rangers. In the close season, however, manager Walter Smith, concerned at the implications of a UEFA ruling to limit the number of foreign players eligible to compete in European club competitions, opted to replace Woods with Andy Goram of Hibernian, a goalkeeper eligible to play for Scotland and therefore able to play for Rangers without breaching the 'three foreigner' rule.
Sheffield Wednesday
In August 1991, Rangers accepted an offer of £1.2 million from Sheffield Wednesday manager Trevor Francis and Woods headed to Hillsborough.
Wednesday had just won the League Cup and promotion to the First Division, so Woods was back in English football's top flight again after a six-season absence.
His club career was also full of disappointments in 1993, as Wednesday reached the League Cup final again but lost 2–1 to Arsenal. A few weeks later, Woods finally played in an FA Cup final as Wednesday took on Arsenal yet again, this time drawing 1–1. They were set for another 1–1 draw in the replay and thus penalties before a last-gasp Andy Linighan header in the closing seconds of extra time made it over the line, with Woods shouldering some of the blame, and Arsenal emerged victorious again. Ironically, both Linighan and Woods were former Norwich players, and the goal meant that Norwich City, rather than Sheffield Wednesday, qualified for the UEFA Cup, the following season.
After Sheffield Wednesday
By the 1995-96 season, Woods found himself out of favour at Wednesday as Kevin Pressman was first choice goalkeeper, and had a short loan spell at Reading before moving to the USA to play for Colorado Rapids.
In October 1996, Graeme Souness, now manager at Southampton negotiated his loan from Colorado Rapids as cover for Dave Beasant, with a view to a permanent transfer. This loan deal involved a 7-1 defeat at the hands of Everton, and in his fourth appearance he broke his leg at Blackburn Rovers and returned to the USA to recuperate.
He then returned to England for spells at Sunderland and Burnley before retiring from playing in 1998.
International career
In the international fold, Woods was once again Shilton's back-up in the England team, but he was given his debut in a friendly against the USA in Los Angeles on 16 June 1985, when still a Norwich City player. He was rarely left out of an England squad again over the next five years.
Woods went to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico as Shilton's potential replacement; he was not required to play and England exited in the quarter-finals.
While at Rangers, Woods received his fifth England cap - and his second start - in a 2–0 win over Yugoslavia at Wembley which inched England further towards qualification for the 1988 European Championships. Woods came on as a substitute for Shilton twice in 1987; and started two matches - a European Championships qualifier against Turkey and a goalless draw against Scotland at Hampden Park in the Rous Cup. Two more starts followed in the subsequent season prior to the European Championships in Germany.
England suffered two embarrassing defeats in the opening brace of group games at the 1988 European Championships, and therefore Robson could afford to rest Shilton for the third and final group match, against the USSR, which had been rendered meaningless. Woods therefore played his first match in a competitive finals - his 13th in total - conceding three times.
By now, another goalkeeper had emerged as a potential successor to the ageing Shilton, with QPR's David Seaman receiving a first cap in a draw against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. However, Woods was still regarded by Robson as his primary understudy for Shilton, who had, by now, earned his 100th cap and was about to break Bobby Moore's record of 108. Also on the scene was Dave Beasant, who won two caps as a sub as Robson checked out other goalkeepers, but Woods remained Robson's first choice if ever Shilton was unable to play. As all this went on, England qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy.[8]
Robson chose Woods and Seaman as Shilton's understudies in the initial squad, but days before a hand injury to David Seaman forced Bobby Robson to drop Seaman and replace him with Beasant. England went to the semi-finals, where they lost on penalties to West Germany.
There is an urban myth that Robson had considered substituting Shilton, prior to the penalty shootout which eliminated England, in favour of Beasant (a renowned penalty stopper), but decided against it. However, in 1990, the rules governing substitutes stated that five substitutes (normally including one goalkeeper) had to be nominated from among a team's reserve players - with only two being allowed to come on. Woods was the only nominated goalkeeper among England's five substitutes - so there would not have been any question of Beasant replacing Shilton. (This rule was changed for the 1994 World Cup, when any player in the 22-man squad not named in the starting XI was eligible to come on as substitute).
Woods did not play in the World Cup, Robson chose to keep Shilton in the side for his 125th and final cap for England in the third place play-off match against Italy after their semi-final defeat. Robson also quit afterwards and successor Graham Taylor instantly installed Woods as his number one.
By summer 1991, Woods had accumulated 24 caps as England made steady progress through their qualification for the 1992 European Championships.
He went to the 1992 European Championships as England's first choice keeper and kept clean sheets in his first two matches. Unfortunately, England couldn't score in either so victory was crucial against hosts Sweden in the last group match. Sweden won 2–1, however, so England were eliminated and Woods had suffered major disappointment in his first (and ultimately his only) tournament as England's number one keeper.
He stayed in the side the following year as England stuttered in their qualification campaign for the 1994 World Cup, losing a crucial match in Oslo against Norway in the process. Then, after a bad defeat against the USA in Boston during a summer tour in 1993, Taylor dropped Woods and, after trying two other keepers, installed Seaman in the side. Ironically, his 43-cap international career ended where it began - with a game against the USA.[9]
Other appearances
In November 2005, Paul Merson and Walsall approached Woods, ex-England star David Seaman and ex-Wales goalkeeper Neville Southall to perform in an FA Cup game at Merthyr Tydfil as their two first choice goalkeepers, Joe Murphy and Andy Oakes, were unavailable. All three men declined the offer.[10]
In 2005, Chris appeared in Sky One's The Match, replacing Neville Southall late in the second half, saving Darren Campbell's penalty. Woods also appeared in a charity England versus Germany match at Reading's Madejski Stadium in May 2006. The match was played by celebrities and former footballers, with Germany winning 4–2.
Coaching career
Woods is now the goalkeeping coach at Everton. He took this job in 1998 under his ex-Rangers boss Walter Smith and has continued in the role under current manager David Moyes. In October 2011, he became United States goalkeeping coach as Moyes had given permission for him to take the U.S. job while continuing his role with Everton.
Honours
- Nottingham Forest
- FA Community Shield winner: 1978
- Football League Cup winner: 1978
- European Cup winner: 1979
- European Super Cup winner: 1979
- Norwich City
- Football League Cup winner: 1985
- Rangers
- Scottish football champions winner: 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991
- Scottish League Cup winner: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991
- Sheffield Wednesday
- FA Cup finalist: 1993
- Football League Cup finalist: 1993
External links
References
- ^ "Chris Woods". Englandstats. http://www.englandstats.com/playerreport.php?pid=1086. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ^ "Chris Woods". EnglandFC. http://www.englandfc.com/Profiles/php/PlayerProfileByName.php?id=1091. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ^ "Chris Woods". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/chriswoods.htm. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ^ "1996 Colorado Rapids Statistics" (PDF). Colorado Rapids. http://www.coloradorapids.com/PDF/History/PlayerStats/1996.pdf. Retrieved 24 January 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Sewell, Albert (7 February 2002). "Ask Albert - Number 53". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_talk/1807750.stm. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
- ^ Quinn, Bryan (30 January 2008). "Adrian Sprott: Ex-Hamilton Accies". http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/special-reports/exprofootballers/2008/01/30/adrian-sprott-ex-hamilton-accies-86908-20303652/. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
- ^ Bostock, Adam (8 February 2009). "Edwin claims British record". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&newsid=6626680. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
- ^ 1990 FIFA World Cup: England Squad FIFA.com, Retrieved 24 January 2010
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Seaman bid falls flat". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2367636/Seaman-bid-falls-flat.html. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
Awards and achievements Preceded by
Dave WatsonNorwich City Player of the Season
1983/84Succeeded by
Steve Bruce1985–86 Football League Second Division PFA Team of the Year GK: Chris Woods · DF: Paul Parker · DF: Steve Bruce · DF: Dave Watson · DF: Mark Reid · MF: Danny Wilson · MF: Ian Snodin · MF: Mark Aizlewood · FW: Kevin Drinkell · FW: Vince Hilaire · FW: Keith BertschinEngland squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Shilton • 2 Gary Stevens • 3 Sansom • 4 Hoddle • 5 Martin • 6 Butcher • 7 Bryan Robson (c) • 8 Wilkins • 9 Hateley • 10 Lineker • 11 Waddle • 12 Anderson • 13 Woods • 14 Fenwick • 15 Gary A. Stevens • 16 Reid • 17 Steven • 18 Hodge • 19 Barnes • 20 Beardsley • 21 Dixon • 22 Bailey • Coach: Bobby Robson
England squad – UEFA Euro 1988 England squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place England squad – UEFA Euro 1992 Categories:- English footballers
- England international footballers
- England B international footballers
- England under-21 international footballers
- Burnley F.C. players
- Colorado Rapids players
- Norwich City F.C. players
- Nottingham Forest F.C. players
- Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
- Rangers F.C. players
- Reading F.C. players
- Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
- Southampton F.C. players
- Sunderland A.F.C. players
- Premier League players
- 1986 FIFA World Cup players
- UEFA Euro 1988 players
- 1990 FIFA World Cup players
- UEFA Euro 1992 players
- People from Boston (district)
- 1959 births
- Living people
- Association football goalkeepers
- Everton F.C. non-playing staff
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
