Alan Woods (born October 12, 1978) is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender who played a season in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and six in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

. He is currently the coach of the

Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia. History Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mid ...

women's team.

Player

Youth

Woods attended Paint Branch High School where he was a 1995 All Met Honorable Mention soccer player. In 1996, he began his collegiate career at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

where he was named to the Big East All-Rookie team and second team All Great Lakes Region. He transferred to Clemson in 1998 where he was first team All ACC and first team All South. In March 1998, Woods was called up to the

United States men's national under-23 soccer team The United States U-23 men's national soccer team, also known as the United States men's Olympic soccer team, is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is qualification into and competition at the quadr ...

camp for its match against Canada.

Professional

The

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

selected Woods in the first round (tenth overall) of the

2000 MLS SuperDraft The 2000 Major League Soccer SuperDraft was held on February 6, 2000 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and consisted of six rounds. One of the most successful draft picks was goalkeeper Nick Rimando, a third round pick, who went on to hold the record ...

, but waived him after the first game of the regular season in which he played five minutes. He then signed with the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

of the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

where he started 26 of 27 games and was named Battery Rookie of the year. In April 2001, the Rapids traded

Matt Okoh Matthew Nwabueze Okoh (born May 19, 1972) is a former U.S.-Nigerian soccer player and currently assistant coach of the DSU Hornets Women. His playing career spanned eight years and took him from the United States to Brazil, Germany and Portugal ...

and the rights to Woods to the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

in exchange for

Imad Baba Imad Baba (born March 15, 1974) is a former American association football, soccer midfielder. He spent seven years in Major League Soccer (MLS) with the New England Revolution and Colorado Rapids. He was also a member of the American squads at th ...

and Carlos Parra. The

then signed Woods and he played eighteen games for them making the MLS team of the week once. In 2002, he joined the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

of the

and spent three seasons with the team and was team captain for two. In 2003, he was team MVP and Second Team All-League. In September 2003, he went on trial with

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

, but declined a contract. On February 18, 2005, he rejoined the

after returning from the US Men's National Team camp at the Home Depot Center, for its World Cup Qualifier against Trinidad & Tobago during the player labor dispute, signing a two-year contract. He played ten games, scoring one goal. On July 6, 2005, Woods moved to the

Virginia Beach Mariners The Virginia Beach Mariners were an American football (soccer), soccer club, who formerly played in the USL First Division of the United Soccer Leagues, the second division in the US Soccer hierarchy behind Major League Soccer. On March 30, 2007 t ...

, playing the remainder of the 2005 as well as the 2006 season where he was named the Mariners Defensive MVP.

Coach

Woods coached the Cape Henry High School soccer team for one season. He was an assistant coach at

Nichols College Nichols College is a private business college in Dudley, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815 as Nichols Academy, Nichols College offers both bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as certificate programs. History Nichols Academy The instituti ...

for one season. In 2008, he was hired as the head coach for the

women's soccer team and the head coach for the Roswell Santos soccer academy. At Santos he coached the U-13 girls Blue team. In 2009, he was hired as the Concorde Fire Soccer Academy coach where he coached the U-14 girls central team and the U-14 central black team. He is currently coaching the 2011 Girls ECNL team at UFA
United Futbol Academy
in Forsyth Georgia.

References

External links

Oglethorpe University coaching profile

Charleston Battery player stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Alan 1978 births Living people African-American soccer players American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Atlanta Silverbacks FC players Charleston Battery players Clemson Tigers men's soccer players Colorado Rapids players Major League Soccer players New England Revolution players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's soccer players Oglethorpe University USL First Division players Virginia Beach Mariners players A-League (1995–2004) players Colorado Rapids draft picks Men's association football defenders 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportspeople