Luke Zantua Woodland (born 21 July 1995) is a 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 le ...

who last played as a defender. Born in the United Arab Emirates, he represents the Philippines internationally. Woodland started his career with

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 ...

. He represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at under-16, under-17 and under-18 levels and has played for the Philippines national team since 2015.

Early and personal life

Woodland was born in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

to an English father and a Filipino mother. Both of his parents worked in the Persian Gulf country. The family moved to

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 ...

in England when Woodland was two years old.

Club career

Bolton Wanderers

Woodland joined

in their youth system at the age of eight. He progressed through the ranks, earning Player of the Year on two occasions. Woodland was given a football scholarship aged 15 and a two-year professional contract at 17 years old in April 2013.

Oldham Athletic

Woodland joined League One club Oldham Athletic on 13 March 2015 on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

. He made his debut the following day, playing the whole match in a 3–1 home defeat against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. His fourth appearance for Oldham, at home to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on 24 March 2015, saw him earn the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award. After extending his loan spell until the end of the 2014–15 season, the club was interested in signing permanently. After his loan spell at Oldham came to an end, Woodland was released by Bolton, ending his 12-year association with the club. After leaving Bolton, Woodland went on trial at

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

team

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

Chester and Bradford Park Avenue

Woodland signed for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

on 30 October 2015 on non-contract terms. Woodland made his debut on 21 November 2015, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute for John Rooney in the 75th minute of a 2–1 home loss against

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

. After making one appearance, Woodland was released by the club in December 2015. On 25 March 2016, Woodland signed for

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

club

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

. Woodland made his debut in a 3–0 away loss against

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

on 9 April 2016 and went on to make seven appearances for the club.

Return to Oldham Athletic and York City

Woodland re-joined Oldham Athletic for the second time on 11 July 2016, signing a six-month contract until December. He made his debut on 20 August 2016 as an 87th-minute substitute in a 1–0 away win over

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. Woodland was permitted to play for the reserve team of National League club York City, playing in a 3–0 victory at home to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

. His release from Oldham was announced on 25 November 2016, and on the same say he signed for York on a contract until January 2017. Woodland made his debut the following day, starting their 3–0 away defeat to

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

. However, he was dropped after this match, although manager Gary Mills affirmed that Woodland was still in his plans, saying: "Some people judge players on their first game, but I know Luke's a good player". On 5 January 2017, he extended his contract until the end of 2016–17. Having made three appearances, Woodland left York by mutual consent on 7 February 2017.

Ceres–Negros

Woodland signed for Philippines Football League club Ceres–Negros in February 2017. He left the club after deciding to not renew his contract after the 2017 season.

Buriram and loan to Suphanburi

He moved to Thailand in June 2018 signing up for

Buriram United Buriram United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลบุรีรัมย์ ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional football club based in Buriram, Thailand. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the ...

. However he was loaned to

Thai League 1 The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from August ...

club

Suphanburi Suphan Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand. It covers ''tambon'' Tha Philiang and parts of ''tambons'' Rua Yai and Tha Rahat, all within the Mueang Suphan Buri District. As of 2006 it had a population of 26,656. The town ...

. While with Suphanburi, Woodland was involved in an altercation between himself and a Thai player while in a training session which caused him to loss favor with the club's non-English speaker coach. Sustaining injuries after playing in the

2020 AFF Championship The 2020 AFF Championship (officially AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), the 7th and the last edition ...

with the Philippine national team, Woodland returned to Buriram and took part in training to regain his form. He went on to play in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup but failed to earn a break in Buriram.

Kuala Lumpur

Woodland signed for Malaysia Super League club

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

on 18 February 2019. They dropped injured defender

Achmad Jufriyanto Achmad Jufriyanto Tohir (born 7 February 1987 in Tangerang, Banten) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga 1 club Persib Bandung. Career statistics Club International goals :''Scores and results lis ...

in place of Woodland.

Ratchaburi

After his stint with Kuala Lumpur, Woodland returned to Thailand to play for Ratchaburi and played 16 league games for the club in the 2020-2021 season.

International career

Woodland was eligible to play for

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

owing to his heritage, and the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

for being born there. Between 2010 and 2012, Woodland was selected for England at youth level, playing 11 matches for the under-16, under-17 and under-18 teams. In March 2015, the

Philippine Football Federation The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in ...

invited him to join the Philippines national team training camp. However, he did not attend due to club commitments. Two months later, he was named in the Philippines' 23-man squad for their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

on 11 and 16 June respectively. Woodland missed the match against Bahrain due to delays in gaining international clearance, but made his debut against Yemen on 16 June 2015.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodland, Luke 1995 births Living people Footballers from Abu Dhabi Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Filipino men's footballers Philippines men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Chester F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players York City F.C. players United City F.C. players Luke Woodland Kuala Lumpur City F.C. players Luke Woodland English Football League players National League (English football) players Luke Woodland 2019 AFC Asian Cup players British Asian footballers British people of Filipino descent English people of Filipino descent Philippines Football League players Filipino people of English descent