Alan Woodward (7 September 1946 – 21 May 2015) was a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played in the position of

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

over a 16-year period between 1962 and 1978. Woodward or ''Woody'' as he was nicknamed, will be best remembered for his powerful shots. He was also a dead-ball specialist, especially effective with corners, and scored directly from them on many occasions. Wearing the No.7 shirt; he possessed pace, power, and skill and was a local lad who, it is often said, missed out on international recognition because of his temperament. He played in the Sheffield United

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

to cover for injuries. His first appearances for Sheffield United came in their two County Cup (a regional competition for teams in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

) fixtures of season 1963–64, against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

in the semi-final and Barnsley in the final. The County Cup competition was won by

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

4–3 with Woodward scoring the first goal of the game and the first of his first team career. His League debut came against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

on 7 October 1964 and his first goal came on 31 October against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

at Elland Road. He scored 4 goals (including a penalty) in a 7–0 home victory against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on 27 November 1971. He left United at the start of season 1978–79, his final goal being a penalty against River Plate of Argentina, in order to play for the Tulsa Roughnecks, where he was nicknamed "the Boomer" for his strong, high arching and accurate passes and shots on goal, in the North American Soccer League. He remains the Blades' leading post-war scorer and made a total of 538 league appearances for

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile of Alan Woodward
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Alan 1946 births 2015 deaths Footballers from Sheffield English footballers Sheffield United F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players English Football League players English Football League representative players Association football wingers English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States