Darren Wood (born 9 June 1964) is an English former

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 le ...

, who played as a full back in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

between 1981 and 1990 for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. Born in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

, Wood began his career with

, making 101 league appearances between 1981 and 1984. He became the focal point of a dispute which ended

Malcolm Allison Malcolm Alexander Allison (5 September 1927 – 14 October 2010) was an English football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Mal", he was one of English football's most flamboyant and intriguing characters because of his panache, fedora and ...

's managerial reign at Middlesbrough: with the club on the verge of liquidation, Allison threatened to resign if Wood were sold to Chelsea for £100,000, declaring that it was "better for the club to die than to linger on". Chairman Mike McCullagh accused Allison of no longer being reliable in trying to save the club and promptly sacked him, installing

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

. In September 1984, Wood joined

for a fee reported as "around £50,000" and the return of former Middlesbrough captain Tony McAndrew to

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...

. The ''Evening Gazette'' reported that

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 popul ...

had offered £250,000 for Wood just six months earlier. Wood eventually played in 178 matches in all competitions for the west

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

club. Being switched to midfield, where he was unpopular when keeping the stylish Micky Hazard out of the team.The Evening Standard He was sold to

in 1989, but made only a handful of appearances before retiring due to a back injury endured over a 2-year period. Wood captained England Schoolboys at the age of 15. He followed in his father’s footsteps who also captained England Schoolboys and they are the only father and son to have achieved this. After retiring as a player he went into the food retail business owning 12 delicatessens across Yorkshire. He settled in his wife's hometown of Leeds, in the village of Thorner, with their 2 children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Darren English footballers Middlesbrough F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players English Football League players Association football defenders Sportspeople from Scarborough, North Yorkshire 1964 births Living people Footballers from North Yorkshire