Thomas Leslie Wood (20 December 1932 – 24 January 2005) was an English

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 ...

. A

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, he played 33 league games 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 ...

, mostly for

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

. He was also signed to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

, Huddersfield Town,

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, and Southport.

Career

Wood played for Woolfold St. James and

, before joining Huddersfield Town in 1952. The "Terriers" won promotion to the First Division in 1952–53, and made a bid for the

title in 1953–54, before falling away in 1954–55. However manager Andy Beattie was satisfied with the services of regular goalkeepers Harry Mills and Jack Wheeler, and Wood never made his first team debut at

Leeds Road Leeds Road was a association football, football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 in English football, 1994–95 season. It was the home of ...

. Wood spent the 1955–56 season with

, and played 31

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

games for Joe Harvey's struggling "Bluebirds". He left Holker Street, and joined Freddie Steele's

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side

for 'a reasonable fee' in June 1956. Working as Ray King's understudy, Wood conceded three goals on his debut against Blackburn Rovers at Vale Park on 12 January 1957. He played just one more game in 1956–57, and was transferred to Southport in January 1958 by new boss

Norman Low Norman Harvey Low (23 March 1914 – 21 May 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the son of Scottish international footballer, Wilf Low. A central defender, he played for Newcastle United between 1931 and 1933, before a th ...

. He played one Third Division North game for a struggling "Sandgrounders" side in 1957–58. After leaving Haig Avenue, he later turned out for non-league sides

Rossendale United Rossendale United Football Club was a semi-professional football club based in the village of Newchurch within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. The club was founded in 1898. Nicknamed the Stags, they had a long and eventful run wh ...

and Bolton Road.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Leslie 1932 births 2005 deaths People from Haslingden English footballers Association football goalkeepers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Southport F.C. players Rossendale United F.C. players English Football League players