Harry Wood (footballer)
Encyclopedia
Harry Wood was a professional footballer who played most of his career as an inside-forward
for Wolverhampton Wanderers
and Southampton
.
and started his career with Walsall Swifts
before moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers
for the first time in 1887. In the following season
, Wolves became one of the inaugural members of the Football League
, finishing the season in third place. Wolves also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing to the league champions Preston North End
. Wood was Wolves' top scorer
with thirteen goals from his seventeen league appearances. He was also Wolves' top scorer in 1890–91 (jointly with Sammy Thomson) and 1892–93 (with 16 goals).
Wood remained with Wolves for the following two seasons, before returning to Walsall
in the summer of 1891. His sojourn with Walsall was brief, however, and in November he returned to Wolves.
He remained with Wolves for a further seven seasons, during which he made two further appearances in FA Cup
finals, being part of the winning team in 1893 (beating Everton
1–0), and losing 2–1 to Sheffield Wednesday
in 1896
. Whilst with Wolves, he made three appearances for England
scoring once. Again he was Wolves' top scorer in 1894–95 and 1895–96.
's trainer, Bill Dawson, was on a short holiday in Stoke
when he read in a local paper that Wood had not yet renewed the terms of his contract with Wolves. Dawson tracked Wood down to a Walsall
pub and eventually persuaded Wood to sign for the Saints, who had just claimed the Southern League
championship for the second consecutive year.
According to Holley & Chalk's The Alphabet of the Saints, "Harry Wood stands out as probably the most popular footballer to wear the Saints' colours during the Southern League era.".
In his first season at The Dell
Wood was an ever-present making 24 appearances and scoring 16 goals as Saints took the Southern League championship for the third time. The following season, Saints only managed third place in the league, but reached the FA cup final for the first time in their history, beating three First Division clubs along the way. Unfortunately, the Cup Final was a great disappointment as Saints were swept aside 4–0 by Bury
.
In the following season, 1900–01, Saints once again took the Southern League title, with Wood scoring 10 goals and Edgar Chadwick
top-scorer with 14 goals. The 1901–02 season followed a similar pattern to 1899–00 with Saints finishing in third place and reaching their second FA Cup final, losing to Sheffield United
after a replay.
In 1902–03, Saints won their sixth (and last) Southern League title with Wood only missing two games, scoring 12 goals. By now he was sharing the goal-scoring with John Fraser
(15 goals), dab Fred Harrison (17 goals in only 13 games) and Joe Turner
(14 goals).
Wood's cunning passing earned him the nickname "the wolf" and for seven years he captained the Saints during their most successful era. In all, he made 180 appearances for the Saints, scoring 65 goals.
In his final season at The Dell, the Saints played a testimonial match for Woods against Aston Villa
. The "gate" money raised was £106 5s 6d which was boosted by donations from the Southampton public to make a total benefit cheque of £250 5s.
. After seven years at Fratton Park
, he retired from football and became the licensee at the local Milton Arms public house.
His son Arthur Wood
played for Southampton as a goalkeeper from 1914–1921. Harry Wood died at Portsmouth
in July 1951, shortly after his 83rd birthday.
Southampton
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
for Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
and Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wood was born in WalsallWalsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
and started his career with Walsall Swifts
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
before moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
for the first time in 1887. In the following season
1888-89 in English football
The 1888–1889 season was the 18th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:A new competition, The Football League, started this season...
, Wolves became one of the inaugural members of the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
, finishing the season in third place. Wolves also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing to the league champions Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
. Wood was Wolves' top scorer
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. seasons
This is a list of seasons played by Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club in English and European football, from their entry into the FA Cup in 1883 to the end of the most recent completed season...
with thirteen goals from his seventeen league appearances. He was also Wolves' top scorer in 1890–91 (jointly with Sammy Thomson) and 1892–93 (with 16 goals).
Wood remained with Wolves for the following two seasons, before returning to Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
in the summer of 1891. His sojourn with Walsall was brief, however, and in November he returned to Wolves.
He remained with Wolves for a further seven seasons, during which he made two further appearances in FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
finals, being part of the winning team in 1893 (beating Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
1–0), and losing 2–1 to Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
in 1896
FA Cup Final 1896
The 1896 FA Cup Final was won by The Wednesday at the Crystal Palace, in a victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.-Tournament format:210 teams entered, a record high for the competition, beating the previous record by some 27 clubs. The qualifiers were whittled down to 32 clubs to participate in the...
. Whilst with Wolves, he made three appearances for England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
scoring once. Again he was Wolves' top scorer in 1894–95 and 1895–96.
Southampton
In the summer of 1898, SouthamptonSouthampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
's trainer, Bill Dawson, was on a short holiday in Stoke
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
when he read in a local paper that Wood had not yet renewed the terms of his contract with Wolves. Dawson tracked Wood down to a Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
pub and eventually persuaded Wood to sign for the Saints, who had just claimed the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
championship for the second consecutive year.
According to Holley & Chalk's The Alphabet of the Saints, "Harry Wood stands out as probably the most popular footballer to wear the Saints' colours during the Southern League era.".
In his first season at The Dell
The Dell (Southampton F.C.)
The Dell in Milton Road, Southampton, England was the home ground of Southampton Football Club, between 1898 and 2001.-New stadium:Since 1896, Southampton had been tenants of Hampshire County Cricket Club at the County Ground, having vacated the Antelope Ground in the summer of 1896...
Wood was an ever-present making 24 appearances and scoring 16 goals as Saints took the Southern League championship for the third time. The following season, Saints only managed third place in the league, but reached the FA cup final for the first time in their history, beating three First Division clubs along the way. Unfortunately, the Cup Final was a great disappointment as Saints were swept aside 4–0 by Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...
.
In the following season, 1900–01, Saints once again took the Southern League title, with Wood scoring 10 goals and Edgar Chadwick
Edgar Chadwick
Edgar Wallace Chadwick was a left-sided footballer who had a long and distinguished career with Everton during the 1890s...
top-scorer with 14 goals. The 1901–02 season followed a similar pattern to 1899–00 with Saints finishing in third place and reaching their second FA Cup final, losing to Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...
after a replay.
In 1902–03, Saints won their sixth (and last) Southern League title with Wood only missing two games, scoring 12 goals. By now he was sharing the goal-scoring with John Fraser
John Fraser (footballer born 1876)
John Fraser was a Scottish professional footballer who was part of the Dundee team who won the Scottish Cup in 1910...
(15 goals), dab Fred Harrison (17 goals in only 13 games) and Joe Turner
Joe Turner (footballer)
Joseph Turner was a professional footballer who played in the 1902 FA Cup final for Southampton. Southampton were a Southern League club at the time, and their feat was all the more remarkable in that they had already been losing finalists two years earlier...
(14 goals).
Wood's cunning passing earned him the nickname "the wolf" and for seven years he captained the Saints during their most successful era. In all, he made 180 appearances for the Saints, scoring 65 goals.
In his final season at The Dell, the Saints played a testimonial match for Woods against Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
. The "gate" money raised was £106 5s 6d which was boosted by donations from the Southampton public to make a total benefit cheque of £250 5s.
After Southampton
Wood eventually left the Saints in May 1905 (aged 37), becoming a trainer with PortsmouthPortsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
. After seven years at Fratton Park
Fratton Park
Fratton Park is a football stadium in the English city-port of Portsmouth. It has been the home of professional club Portsmouth F.C. since its construction in 1898.-Description:...
, he retired from football and became the licensee at the local Milton Arms public house.
His son Arthur Wood
Arthur Wood (footballer born 1894)
Arthur Wood was an English goalkeeper who played for Southampton and Clapton Orient. He was the son of the England international forward, Harry Wood.-Career:...
played for Southampton as a goalkeeper from 1914–1921. Harry Wood died at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
in July 1951, shortly after his 83rd birthday.
Honours
Wolverhampton WanderersWolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
winner: 1893 - FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
finalist: 1889 and 1896FA Cup Final 1896The 1896 FA Cup Final was won by The Wednesday at the Crystal Palace, in a victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.-Tournament format:210 teams entered, a record high for the competition, beating the previous record by some 27 clubs. The qualifiers were whittled down to 32 clubs to participate in the...
Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
finalist: 1900 and 1902 - Southern LeagueSouthern Football LeagueThe Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
championship: 1898-99, 1900–01, 1902–03 and 1903–04