Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former 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, rugb ...

, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team. As a player, he was 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 ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

and

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for Nottingham Forest,

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 ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

. He also played in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

for Rangers and in

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 Cana ...

for the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

. He was an

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 ...

international and was largely

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...

's long-time understudy in the England team in the mid to late 1980s, finally claiming the number one shirt for himself after the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...

. In all, he managed to accrue 43 caps in an eight-year international career. Woods has been goalkeeper coach for Everton, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

. He was most recently coaching at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

Club career

Nottingham Forest

When 17 years old, Woods joined Nottingham Forest as an apprentice in 1976, initially as back-up for John Middleton, then

. With Shilton cup-tied for the

1977–78 Football League Cup The 1977–78 Football League Cup was the 18th season of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The competition started on 13 August 1977 and ended with the final going to a replay on 22 March 1978. T ...

, having already played for

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 ...

in that season's competition, Woods played every match as Forest reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, where they beat

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

in a replay, Woods keeping two clean sheets in the process. Shilton remained the club's first choice goalkeeper, and the 1977–78 League Cup games proved to be Woods' only senior appearances for the club as they went on to win the Football League, League Cup again, and

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

Queens Park Rangers

paid £250,000 for 19-year-old Woods in July 1979. As first choice at QPR, Woods made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

debut, playing 63 league games over the next two seasons.

Norwich City

In March 1981 Norwich signed him for £225,000. In 1985 Woods won his second League Cup final, beating

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

1–0 at Wembley. Norwich were relegated at the end of that season. England coach

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...

took Woods on a post-season tour of

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Woods won a second division championship medal the year after. In 2002, he was voted into the club's

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Rangers

Graeme Souness signed Woods for Rangers in the summer of 1986 for £600,000. He was part of an influx of English talent brought in by Souness, which also included

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...

and Graham Roberts. Woods won a

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

title and a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

medal in his first season. From November 1986 to January 1987 he set a British record by playing 1196 consecutive minutes of competitive football without conceding a goal. The run was ended at Ibrox on 31 January 1987 when Adrian Sprott scored the only goal for

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

in the 70th minute of a Scottish Cup tie. Woods won another Scottish League Cup winners medal with Rangers in 1987–88, although rivals

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

won a league and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

replaced Woods with Scottish international

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for Ran ...

. This signing was made in part because

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

had introduced a rule limiting foreign players, which meant that Rangers could only field three non-Scottish players in European matches.

Sheffield Wednesday

In August 1991, Woods signed for

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (born 19 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million player fol ...

for £1.2 million. Wednesday had just won the League Cup and promotion to England's top tier. Wednesday lost the 1993 Football League Cup Final 2–1 to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

. A few weeks later Woods lost in the 1993 FA Cup Final. Wednesday again played Arsenal initially drawing 1–1. Arsenal's Andy Linighan's header made them the 2–1 winner in the closing seconds of extra time. Ironically, both Linighan and Woods were former Norwich players, with defeat in both finals costing Wednesday a place in Europe for 1993–94. By the 1995–96 season Woods was out of favour at Wednesday to

Kevin Pressman Kevin Paul Pressman (born 6 November 1967) is an English football coach and former professional goalkeeper, who is the current goalkeeping coach for Grantham Town. As a player he made over 500 appearances in both the Premier League and Footba ...

as first-choice goalkeeper. Woods had a short loan spell at

Colorado Rapids and Southampton loan

In 1996, he joined

in the USA. In October 1996, Graeme Souness, now manager at

, negotiated his loan from Colorado Rapids as cover for Dave Beasant, with a view to a permanent transfer. His second league appearance came in a 7–1 defeat at the hands of Everton, and in his fourth league appearance he broke his leg at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

after which he returned to the US to recuperate.

Later career

He then returned to England for spells at

and

. He retired from playing in 1998.

International career

In the England squad Woods was once again Shilton's back-up. Woods debuted in a friendly against the USA in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

on 16 June 1985 while a Norwich City player. He was rarely left out of an England squad again over the next five years. Woods went to the 1986 World Cup in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

but did not play. England went out in the quarter-finals. When at Rangers Woods received his second start in his fifth cap in a 2–0 Wembley win over

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

that inched England further towards 1988 European Championships qualification. Woods came on as a substitute for Shilton twice in 1987 and started two matches: a European Championships qualifier against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

and a goalless draw against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

in the Rous Cup. Two more starts followed in the subsequent season prior to the European Championships in Germany. England suffered two defeats in the opening brace of group games at the 1988 European Championships, and therefore Robson could afford to rest Shilton for the third and final group match, against the USSR, which had been rendered meaningless. Woods therefore played his first match in a competitive finals, his 13th in total, conceding three times in a 3–1 defeat. By now, another goalkeeper had emerged as a potential successor to the ageing Shilton, with QPR's

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country' ...

receiving a first cap in a draw 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 Ara ...

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 the ...

. However, Woods was still regarded by Robson as his primary understudy for Shilton, who had, by now, earned his 100th cap and was about to break

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...

's record of 108. Also on the scene was Dave Beasant, who won two caps as a sub as Robson checked out other goalkeepers, but Woods remained Robson's first choice if ever Shilton was unable to play. As all this went on, England qualified for the

in Italy. Robson chose Woods and Seaman as Shilton's understudies in the initial squad, but days before a hand injury to David Seaman forced Bobby Robson to drop Seaman and replace him with Beasant. England went to the semi-finals, where they lost on penalties to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

. Woods did not play in the World Cup, Robson choosing to keep Shilton in the side for his 125th and final cap for England in the third place play-off match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

after their semi-final defeat. Robson quit after the tournament and successor

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

instantly installed Woods as his number one. By summer 1991, Woods had accumulated 24 caps as England made steady progress through their qualification for the 1992 European Championships, unbeaten in six matches with three clean sheets and conceding only three goals. He went to the 1992 European Championships as England's first-choice keeper and kept clean sheets in his first two matches against Denmark and France. England did not score in either, so victory was crucial against hosts

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

in the last group match. Sweden won 2–1, however, so England were eliminated and Woods had suffered major disappointment in his first (and ultimately his only) tournament as England's number-one keeper. He stayed in the side the following year as England stuttered in their qualification campaign for the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

. Woods conceded a crucial equaliser from a long-range shot from

Kjetil Rekdal Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968) is a Norwegian football manager and a former player. He is the manager of Eliteserien club Rosenborg. Rekdal began his playing career in Molde FK, playing afterwards for clubs in the Bundesliga, Ligu ...

in a 1–1 home draw with

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

and an 85th-minute penalty from

Peter van Vossen Peter Jacobus van Vossen (; born 21 April 1968) is a Dutch former professional football player and manager. Club career Van Vossen was born in Zierikzee. As a footballer, he played for Beveren, Anderlecht, Ajax, Istanbulspor, Rangers, Feyenoor ...

in a 2–2 home draw with

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In June 1993 England lost a crucial match in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

against Norway. Then, after a defeat against the USA in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

during a summer tour in 1993, Taylor dropped Woods and, after trying two other keepers, installed Seaman in the side. Woods' 43-cap international career ended where it began, with a game against the US, although he was an unused substitute for the following four internationals.

Coaching career

Woods took up a coaching position under

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

at Everton in 1998, where he was tasked with the development of the club's goalkeepers. In July 2013 Woods left Everton to take the goalkeeping coach position at Manchester United, following the same move by first team manager

David Moyes David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manch ...

. Woods retained his position when Moyes was sacked, in April 2014, but was replaced by Frans Hoek, when Moyes' permanent successor,

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spe ...

, was appointed. In June 2015 he became goalkeeping coach at

. He left the role in May 2018 following the appointment of new manager, Manuel Pellegrini. Parallel to being a club coach, in 2011 Woods was employed by the United States national team, linking up with Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard. He took a similar position with the Scotland national team in August 2021.

Honours

Nottingham Forest *

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

: 1977–78 *

: 1978–79 Norwich City *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

: 1984–85 Rangers *

: 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90,

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

: 1986–87, 1987–88,

References

External links

*
Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Chris English footballers England international footballers England B international footballers England under-21 international footballers Burnley F.C. players Colorado Rapids players Major League Soccer players Norwich City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Reading F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Premier League players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1992 players People from Swineshead, Lincolnshire 1959 births Living people Association football goalkeepers Everton F.C. non-playing staff Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff Expatriate soccer players in the United States English Football League players Scottish Football League players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate footballers UEFA Champions League winning players Association football goalkeeping coaches Scotland national football team non-playing staff FA Cup Final players Footballers from Lincolnshire