Stephen John Woods (born 15 December 1976) 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 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 ...

for

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and

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 ...

Career

Woods was born in Davenham,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

and began his career as a trainee with

, turning professional in August 1994. He made his league debut in March 1998, coming on as first-half substitute for Ally Pickering in a 2–1 defeat at home to Huddersfield Town. Later that month he joined

on loan, making five appearances before returning to Stoke. Woods' first start for Stoke, under manager

Brian Little Brian Little (born 25 November 1953) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, Little was a striker who spent his entire career for Aston Villa in a career that spanned from 1971 to 1980. He made 247 league appearances, ...

, came on the opening day of the 1998–99 season, a 3–1 home victory over Northampton Town. He remained a regular in the side for most of the season playing in 39 matches with Stoke finishing in a poor position of 8th. He was released by Stoke in May 1999 and joined

in July 1999. He failed to establish himself at Chesterfield and was allowed to join

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

on trial in November 2000. He returned to Chesterfield at the end of his trial and moved to

on a free transfer in August 2001. He initially signed on a short-term contract, making an impressive debut against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

in the League Cup. Torquay manager Roy McFarland was impressed enough to reward Woods with a contract for the next two seasons. He was a regular in his first season, but in 2002–03 played only nine times due to a serious knee injury. He was given a short-term 'prove your fitness' deal at the end of the season, which was extended as he returned to form. He later helped

Leroy Rosenior Leroy De Graft Rosenior (born 24 August 1964) is a football coach and pundit. He is a former footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (for whom he appeared as a substitute in the 1986 League Cup Final), Bristol City and Wes ...

's side win promotion to League One, and remained a significant player in the side relegated the following season and who battled to avoid a second successive relegation in the 2005–06 season. He remained with the club following their relegation to the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

in 2007 and was appointed captain for the following season. In March 2009, Torquay manager Paul Buckle announced that the club would not be offering Woods a new contract for the 2009–10 season, citing his reasons as wanting to bring through his younger players such as Mark Ellis and Chris Robertson. He spent the 2009 pre-season with

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

, joining

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

in August 2009. For the 2010–11 season he signed with

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

and in September 2010 he commenced on a part-time bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy at the University of Salford. In March 2011 he joined FC Halifax Town on loan.

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

and

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Steve 1976 births Living people People from Davenham English footballers Stoke City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Alumni of the University of Salford FC Halifax Town players English Football League players Sportspeople from Cheshire Association football defenders