Stephen Wooddin (born 16 January 1955 in England) is a former New Zealand

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who was a leading striker during the country's successful campaign to qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. He was a left-footed attacking player.

Club career

Born in Birkenhead England, Wooddin started his club career at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

in Birkenhead, where he made first team appearances before moving to New Zealand in 1977, joining Dunedin City. In 1981, he moved to Australia, playing three years for

South Melbourne FC South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium ...

in the NSL, before returning to his adopted country with

Christchurch United Christchurch United is an amateur association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in various Mainland Football competitions at Junior and Senior level. The club has won six National League titles and six Chatham Cup trophi ...

until his career was cut short by a recurring ankle injury in 1984. A Belgian First Division team had wanted to sign Wooddin after his capable performances at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, but already hampered by injury, he failed the medical.

International career

Wooddin was first selected for the

New Zealand national football team The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football ...

the ''All Whites'' for a 16 May 1980, 1–1 draw against a Southern Region team in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. He retained his place in the team which lost 2–1 to a Central Region selection two days later in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. Despite the unconvincing results, Wooddin was selected for the next match, in August, against

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Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

. He scored the fourth goal in a 4–0 win that remains one of the most outstanding and unexpected results in New Zealand's international football history. The following year saw New Zealand begin the long road to the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Wooddin was selected for all fifteen games in the ultimately successful campaign, scoring eight goals in the process, including trademark left foot shots into the bottom corner both home and away against Australia, against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

in the controversial 1–2 home loss, and in

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...

against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

when the team recorded a stunning 5–0 victory. This last result led to a play-off against China in Singapore in January 1982, in which Wooddin again scored with a left-foot shot to open the scoring in his side's 2–1 win. Wooddin was one of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's only two scorers in the 1982 World Cup (along with Steve Sumner), scoring the second New Zealand goal in a 5–2 loss to

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. He also started the subsequent matches against the

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and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In 1983 injuries reduced Wooddin to just two international appearances, against Australia and Fiji. He made his last two appearances for the All Whites against Fiji in October 1984, scoring the winner in the first of these matches, before being forced to retire due to injured ankle ligaments with 24 A-internationals and 11 goals to his credit.

References

External links

*
New Zealand 1982 World Cup squad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooddin, Steve 1955 births Living people New Zealand association footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players South Melbourne FC players New Zealand international footballers National Soccer League (Australia) players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Cammell Laird 1907 F.C. players New Brighton A.F.C. players Winsford United F.C. players English Football League players Association football forwards New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate sportspeople in Australia