Bervin Robert Woods (9 January 1910 – 13 January 2002) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for Collingwood in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) during the late 1930s. Despite spending only six seasons at Collingwood, Woods played in five Grand Finals, all in succession from 1935 to 1939. These included premierships in 1935 and 1936. He was mostly a defender and could also play effectively in the ruck. Woods was involved in controversy in the 1950 VFL pre-season when he left his job as coach of Collingwood's reserves to replace the retired Jock McHale as senior coach.B. Woods New Coach at Collingwood, ''The Age'', (Friday, 14 April 1950), p.16.
/ref> As the club were seeking a non-playing coach, Phonse Kyne announced his retirement and applied for the job — the five applicants were

Harry Chesswas Harold Clark "Bottles" Chesswas (18 June 1901 – 24 October 1956) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the VFL. Family The son of George Forrester Chesswas (1858–1924), and Louisa Chesswas (1862–1903), née ...

Harry Collier Harry Collier (1 October 1907 – 16 August 1994) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League. Family Collier was the older brother of former champion Collingwood player (and the 1929 Brownlow Medal winner) Albert. ...

, Phonse Kyne,

Harold Rumney Harold Waldmere Rumney (16 May 1907 – 16 November 1987) was an Australian rules footballer. Rumney was rejected by Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club th ...

, and Bervin Woods — but Kyne was passed up in favour of Woods. The majority of Collingwood supporters were not happy to see Woods get the job ahead of Kyne and jeered both him and the committee during a practice game in April. Woods withdrew his application for the role within five days of his appointment and returned to the reserves.Spaull, R., "Bervin Woods - Five Days as Coach of Collingwood", ''Boyles Football Photos'', 30 January 2015.
/ref> The affair resulted in the sacking of long-standing committee men Harry Curtis and Bob Rush. In 1951 Woods was appointed coach of Brunswick. After two seasons of coaching Woods became a publican.

Footnotes

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

*
''Boyles Football Photos'': Bervyn Woods.

''The VFA Project'': Bervyn Woods.

Bervyn Woods
at ''Collingwood Forever''. 1910 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club Premiership players Brunswick Football Club players Brunswick Football Club coaches Mortlake Football Club players 2002 deaths Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players {{AFL-bio-1910-stub