Horace John "Johnny" Woodward (16 January 1924 – 8 August 2002) was an English 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 for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

, Snowdown Colliery Welfare,

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

and Horsham.

Playing career

Woodward signed as an amateur for Tottenham Hotspur in 1939.Woodward's obituary
Retrieved 21 July 2010 In 1941 he made his senior debut in the London Wartime League. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he served as a gunner in the Merchant Navy. On his return from duty ''Spurs'' offered him a professional contract in May 1946. The

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

made his Football League debut against Newport County in September 1946 when he replaced the injured Bill Nicholson – Woodward remains the only ''Lilywhite'' to make his League debut at

Somerton Park Somerton Park was a football, greyhound racing and speedway stadium in Newport, South Wales. Football In April 1912 Newport County had been accepted to play in the Southern League for the 1912–13 season. Shortly afterwards, the site ...

. Woodward played a total of 67 matches in all competitions and scored one goal for the ''Lilies'' between 1946–49.Tottenham Hotspur F.C A-Z of players
Retrieved 25 November 2012 Queens Park Rangers paid £10,500 for his services in 1949. He went on to feature in a further 57 fixtures. After leaving

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

he joined Tonbridge in 1951 and went on to have brief spells at Snowdown Colliery Welfare, Stourbridge and Walsall where he participated in five matches in 1953.

Management career

Woodward became player/manager at Horsham before taking charge at Willesden & Kingsbury a post he held to 1971. He later went on to occasionally manager the Maccabi club of London.

Post–football career

He continued to play football throughout the 1960s and regularly turned out for the Ex–Spurs XI while employed by

Schweppes Schweppes (, ) is a beverage brand that originated in the Republic of Geneva; it is made, bottled and distributed worldwide by multiple international conglomerates, depending on licensing and region, that manufacture and sell soft drinks. Schw ...

and then the British Oxygen Company. Woodward retired in 1988 before settling in

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has forme ...

. After a long illness he died in a Cricklewood nursing home on 8 August 2002.

References

External links

The Saddlers players- Horace WoodwardPhotograph of Woodward
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Johnny 1924 births 2002 deaths Footballers from Islington (district) English men's footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players Snowdown Colliery Welfare F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Stourbridge F.C. players Horsham F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Men's association football defenders