David James Woozley (born 6 December 1979) is an English former 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 last played for
Binfield
Binfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 8,689. The village lies north-west of Bracknell, north-east of Wokingham, and south-east of Reading at the westernmost extremity of ...
after leaving
Slough Town
Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...
in the summer of 2014. As of August 2007, Woozley worked in the
Fire Service
A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...
.
Career
Woozley was born near
Bracknell in
Berkshire and began his career as a trainee with
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
, turning professional in August 1997. He made his Palace debut on 28 March 1999 in a 1–0 win at home to
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
...
and kept his place in the side for the remainder of the season. He played 22 times in the league and six times in cup games the following season, but at the start of the 2000–2001 season found himself out of favour and was allowed to join
AFC Bournemouth on loan.
He returned to Palace, but could not find a way back into the first team. At the start of the following season he had a successful loan spell with
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
, but returned to Palace. He finally joined Torquay in March 2002 on a free transfer and quickly re-established himself in Torquay's defence, playing alongside either
Steve Woods or his former Palace teammate
Sean Hankin.
He was again a regular the following season, but lost his place after the signing of
Craig Taylor and played just ten league games as Torquay won promotion, However, he did play in the crucial 2–1 win at
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
on the last day of the season, coming on as a last minute substitute for
David Graham as Torquay held on to clinch promotion.
He was released shortly after the Southend game and in July 2004 signed for
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
, but struggled to establish himself and joined
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
on loan in March 2005. He was released by Oxford at the end the season and joined
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...
in August 2005.
In October 2006 Woozley became joint manager of Crawley Town with
Ben Judge after manager
John Hollins
John William Hollins (born 16 July 1946) is an English retired footballer and manager. He was initially a midfielder who, later in his career, became an effective full-back. Hollins, throughout his footballing career, featured for clubs such a ...
and his assistant
Alan Lewer were sacked from the club. In January 2007 it was announced that Woozley and Judge would remain in charge until the end of the season.
On 28 August 2007, Woozley announced that he was to leave Crawley Town and retire from professional football, aged 27, to take up a job with the
Fire Service
A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...
. He continued his football career, signing for semi-professional team
Farnborough. He was released by Farnborough in May 2009 due to work commitments restricting the time he could commit to attending team training sessions. He initially joined
Staines Town
Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex.
History
Early days
Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...
, before transferring to
Carshalton Athletic later in the same season.
Woozley signed for
Windsor & Eton midway through the 2009–10 season and helped them to win the league promoting them to the
Southern League Premier Division
The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...
. For the 2010–11 season he was promoted to club captain. After the club folded in 2011, he joined local rivals
Slough Town
Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...
in the
Southern League Division One Central
The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...
, where he captained the side to promotion in 2013-14 through the play-offs to reach the
Southern League Premier Division
The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...
. Whilst at Slough Town he won a number of awards, including: Players' Player of the Season (2011–12) and (2012–13), Manager's Player of the Season (2012–13), Supporters' Player of the Season (2012–13) and the Supporters' Player of the Season runner-up (2013–14).
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woozley, David
Living people
1979 births
People from Ascot, Berkshire
English footballers
Association football defenders
Crystal Palace F.C. players
AFC Bournemouth players
Torquay United F.C. players
Oxford United F.C. players
Yeovil Town F.C. players
Crawley Town F.C. players
English Football League players
English football managers
Crawley Town F.C. managers
Slough Town F.C. players
Windsor & Eton F.C. players
Binfield F.C. players
Farnborough F.C. players