George Wood (born 26 September 1952) is a Scottish 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 ...

who played as 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 in the

Scottish 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

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

and in the

English 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 Engl ...

for Blackpool, Everton, Arsenal,

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, Cardiff City and

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

, before moving into non-league football in Wales. Wood was capped four times for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and was a member of their squad for the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Wood started his career at

for whom he scored a goal from his own penalty area against Queen of the South on 9 January 1971. He moved to Blackpool in 1972 for £10,000 made up of an initial £7,000, followed by another £3,000 after twelve appearancesas cover for John Burridge. After spending time in the reserves, Wood made his debut on 15 April 1972, in a 2–0 home victory over

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

. He then spent the next four years jostling for the No. 1 jersey with Burridge, eventually establishing himself in 1975–76 after Burridge was sold to Aston Villa. Wood was signed by First Division club Everton for £150,000 on 18 August 1977. He was their first-choice goalkeeper for the next two-and-a-half seasons, making over 120 appearances for the Toffees. He joined Arsenal in August 1980 for £140,000, as potential successor to

Pat Jennings Patrick Anthony Jennings (born 12 June 1945) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 119 international matches for Northern Ireland in an international career which lasted for over 22 years. D ...

with whom he shared the first-team goalkeeper's spot for the next two seasons. Jennings' longevity counted against Wood, and, as he was unable to supplant the Irish veteran, Wood was given a free transfer in May 1983 having made 60 league appearances in goal for Arsenal. He was then signed by

, and was their first choice keeper for the next four-and-a-half seasons. Wood made 192 league appearances for Palace, which included nearly three seasons ever-present, and won the club's Player of the Year award in 1986. Wood moved on to Cardiff City in January 1988, where he made 67 league appearances. He spent time on loan with Blackpool in 1990, and ended his league career with

in the 1990–91 season. Stints followed afterward at

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

sides Merthyr Tydfil, for whom he made 11 appearances in the 1991–92 Football Conference, and Inter Cardiff of the

League of Wales The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2 ...

. Wood stayed with Inter Cardiff for several years, both playing for and managing them in European competition.

International career

Wood was in competition with

Alan Rough Alan Roderick Rough (; born 25 November 1951) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He won 53 caps for Scotland and played in two FIFA World Cups. He also had a long club career, principally with Partick Thistle and H ...

and later with Billy Thomson and

Jim Leighton James Leighton (born 24 July 1958) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Leighton started his career with Aberdeen, where he won seven domestic trophies and the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup under the m ...

for a place in the

team. He made his debut in a 1–0 win against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in the 1978–79 Home Internationals on 22 May 1979. He played twice more that year, and made his fourth and final senior appearance on 28 April 1982, also in the Home Internationals against Northern Ireland. Wood was also a member of Scotland's squad for the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

in Spain.

Coaching

He went on to coach goalkeepers at several league clubs, starting with Cardiff City and

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

. In June 2009, he joined

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

, and returning for a third spell with Blackpool in August 2011. In December 2012 he moved on to another of his former clubs, Crystal Palace, where he remained for two-and-a-half seasons.

Honours

Club

* Cardiff City ** Fourth Division: promotion 1987–88 **

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the mos ...

: 1987–88

Individual

* PFA Second Division Team of the Year: 1976–77 * Crystal Palace F.C. Player of the Year: 1986

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, George 1952 births Living people Footballers from South Lanarkshire Association football goalkeepers Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players Forth Wanderers F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Everton F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Merthyr Tydfil F.C. players Cardiff Metropolitan University F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Scottish football managers Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff Swindon Town F.C. non-playing staff Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff Inter Cardiff F.C. players Inter Cardiff F.C. managers People from Douglas, South Lanarkshire