Maurice Woods, born 1 November 1931, Skelmersdale, England.
PART ONE
Matt Woods was brought to Everton in 1949, entering Goodison Park as an 18-year-old defender with plenty to learn and a considerable struggle ahead of him if he was to force his way into the senior side. Everton were a major club with a demanding support and no shortage of players competing for places, so Woods spent most of his eight years at Goodison learning his trade away from the first team, playing reserve football, waiting for openings and trying to make certain that he was ready whenever one appeared. His opportunities remained scarce and he made only eight league appearances, scoring once, which could easily have left the impression that he was not capable of becoming a regular Football League player, but the lack of games said more about the difficulty of breaking into Everton’s side than it did about his ability.
Woods was a strong, determined defender who read danger early and preferred a firm clearance to an unnecessary risk, while he also possessed the physical strength required of a centre-half at a time when forwards were allowed to challenge goalkeepers, shoulders were used freely and referees expected players to remain on their feet. Yet a footballer needed matches if he was to improve, and by 1957 it was plain that his prospects at Goodison would remain limited, so Everton accepted a £6,000 offer from Blackburn Rovers and Woods crossed Lancashire to join a Second Division club with serious ambitions. It was not a glamorous transfer and few would have regarded it as the beginning of his best years, but the move gave him exactly what he required: responsibility, regular football and a side that trusted him.
Blackburn were pushing to regain the First Division place they had lost in 1948, and Woods arrived at Ewood Park in time for the 1957–58 season, when Johnny Carey’s side combined youth, pace and attacking ability with a defence that needed to withstand the long, physical demands of a 42-match league programme. Woods settled quickly and became an important part of the team, while Rovers gathered enough points to finish as Second Division runners-up behind West Ham United and claim promotion at the first attempt, not in his second season as has sometimes been stated.
That achievement changed the direction of his playing days because he had moved from the fringes at Everton to an automatic place in a successful Blackburn team, and the centre-half who had managed only eight league matches across eight years at Goodison was now trusted week after week. Promotion also brought a considerable rise in standard, for the First Division contained the strongest forwards in the country and offered very few quiet afternoons, but Woods did not look out of place, and his uncomplicated approach suited a Blackburn side that wanted its defenders to defend while Ronnie Clayton, Peter Dobing, Bryan Douglas, Ally MacLeod and Roy Vernon supplied much of the invention farther forward. Blackburn finished tenth in 1958–59, a secure and encouraging first season back among the leading clubs, and Woods played his part in showing that Rovers had returned to stay rather than merely visiting for a year.
The following season brought the greatest cup run of Woods’s playing days, as Blackburn worked their way towards Wembley while continuing to establish themselves in the First Division, and although the campaign ended painfully, it confirmed that he could perform on the largest domestic stage. Rovers beat Sunderland, Blackpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley to reach the 1960 FA Cup final, with Woods holding his place at the heart of the defence, and their semi-final victory over local rivals Burnley required three matches before Blackburn finally won 2–0 at Maine Road.
Wolverhampton Wanderers awaited them at Wembley on 7 May, and Stan Cullis’s side were one of the strongest in England, having won the First Division title in 1957–58 and 1958–59 before finishing second in 1959–60, but Blackburn still travelled south with hope because their young team had already removed several difficult opponents. The final began evenly, yet everything shifted when Mick McGrath diverted Barry Stobart’s cross into his own net shortly before half-time, and Rovers’ task became harder still when right-back Dave Whelan suffered a broken leg in a challenge with Norman Deeley. Substitutes were not permitted, so Blackburn played the second half with ten men, while Wolves used the extra space and Deeley scored twice to complete a 3–0 victory. Woods therefore left Wembley without a winner’s medal, but he had played every minute of an FA Cup final and remained one of Blackburn’s most dependable defenders throughout a punishing run.
Blackburn continued to hold their First Division place after that defeat, finishing eighth in 1960–61, their highest position during Woods’s time at Ewood Park, and he remained a regular choice unless injury intervened. He was not a showy centre-half and did not try to turn defending into something more complicated than it needed to be, but he judged the flight of the ball well, competed strongly in the air and rarely allowed a difficult moment to disturb him, while his consistency made him particularly valuable over a long season.
Rovers slipped to 16th in 1961–62 and then recovered to finish 11th in 1962–63, and across his six years with the club Woods accumulated 260 league appearances and scored twice, while his outings in the FA Cup and League Cup carried his overall Blackburn total beyond 300. It was a remarkable change from his years of waiting at Everton, because he had gone from being an occasional first-team player to one of the familiar figures in a settled top-flight side, and some Blackburn followers believed he was unfortunate never to receive an England call when the national team required a successor to Billy Wright. International selection did not arrive, but Woods had proved his level over several seasons and against the strongest attackers in the country, and when he finally left Ewood Park in 1963, he did so with promotion, a Wembley appearance and more than 300 senior matches behind him.
PART TWO
At 31, Matt Woods could have remained in Britain and searched for another Football League club, but instead he accepted an offer that took him to Australia, where the game was developing rapidly as footballers and coaches from Britain and continental Europe helped raise standards. He joined Sydney Hakoah and worked as a player-coach, which gave him responsibility beyond his own performance and allowed him to begin passing on the knowledge he had gained at Everton and Blackburn. Australian football did not enjoy the public standing of the English game, yet the standard among its leading immigrant-backed clubs was stronger than many outsiders assumed, and Woods had to adapt to unfamiliar grounds, longer journeys, different weather and a less established football structure.
Hakoah won the 1963 New South Wales Federation Cup by defeating South Coast United 2–1 in the final, and Woods remained in Australia until 1965, helping a side that was becoming one of the major forces in the state competition. Some accounts suggest that he appeared for more than one Australian club, but surviving records consistently place him with Sydney Hakoah during this period, and it was there that his interest in coaching began to take a more definite shape. The ill health of a relative eventually brought him back to England, and although he was now approaching his 34th birthday and had spent two years outside the Football League, he was not ready to stop playing.
Luton Town offered Matt Woods that return in the summer of 1965, but the circumstances were far removed from the First Division football he had known at Blackburn, because Luton had fallen sharply after reaching the 1959 FA Cup final and were preparing for their first season in the Fourth Division. Woods nevertheless treated the move seriously, and his experience was valuable to a club that required stability after three relegations in six seasons. He played 34 league matches and 38 times in all competitions during 1965–66, helping Luton finish sixth, five points short of the fourth promotion place, and although the season did not produce the required rise, his performances showed that his fitness, judgement and appetite remained intact.
He could no longer depend on speed, if he ever had, but centre-half was a position in which experience could compensate for ageing legs, and Woods knew where to stand, when to challenge and when to hold his position. Those qualities attracted Eddie Quigley, the Stockport County manager who knew him from their time together at Blackburn, and in the summer of 1966 Quigley brought him to Edgeley Park at the age of 34, although he would turn 35 in November. Stockport had spent several seasons near the bottom of the Fourth Division and had finished 22nd in 1965–66, forcing them to seek re-election to the Football League, so a promotion challenge appeared a long way off, but Quigley saw Woods as the man who could bring order to the defence and leadership to the dressing room.
Woods was made captain and paired at centre-half with Eddie Stuart, another vastly experienced defender who had played top-flight football with Wolverhampton Wanderers, and together they gave County a foundation far stronger than anything the club had possessed during the previous campaign. Quigley wanted more than defensive ability from Woods, because he needed a senior professional capable of setting standards and bringing a divided club closer together, and the new captain responded to Stockport’s friendly atmosphere, where players, directors and supporters could mix over a drink after matches.
That closeness helped form a strong team spirit, but the season was not without disruption, as Quigley left only a few months after assembling the side and ex-Southport and Manchester City winger Jimmy Meadows took over as manager at Edgeley Park. The change could have damaged Stockport County’s progress, yet Woods and Stuart supplied continuity on the field, while goalkeeper Ken Mulhearn and the players around them produced a defensive record that gave the side a chance in every match. County conceded only 42 goals across 46 league games, the second-best total in the division, and Woods appeared in every league fixture as they collected 64 points, finished one point above Southport and won the Fourth Division championship. He also scored found the back of the net twice in the league and appeared in the cup competitions, taking his total for the campaign to 51 matches, but his importance went well beyond the figures because the captain had joined a club fresh from re-election and, within a year, led it out of the division as champions.
The title meant that Woods, at 35, faced the challenge of stepping into the Third Division against quicker forwards and stronger teams, but the rise in standard did not expose him, and County’s return to the higher level became a season of solid consolidation rather than immediate struggle. Stockport began cautiously and then improved, gradually moving towards the fringe of the promotion race before finishing 13th, a comfortable position for a newly promoted club, while Woods and Stuart remained at the centre of the defence. His popularity with the supporters was already secure, but one frightening incident during a victory over Brighton and Hove Albion showed how deeply he had become valued, because Woods left the field near the end clutching his chest and plainly in distress.
The problem did not end his season, although injuries caused him to miss several matches, and across his two years at Edgeley Park he made 85 league appearances and scored twice, while his appearances in all competitions took the overall total to 94. His final County match as a player came at Gigg Lane on 4 May 1968, when Stockport ended the season with a wild 5–3 defeat against Bury, and later that month both Woods and Stuart were given free transfers. County nevertheless behaved decently when a cyst on Woods’s knee cartilage, first diagnosed around Christmas, required an operation, and the club confirmed that he would remain on the payroll until he had recovered rather than abandoning a player who had given them such service.
PART THREE
By August 1968, Matt Woods was fit enough to continue and moved to Dublin to join Drumcondra, one of the established names in the League of Ireland, but his stay was brief and produced seven league appearances without a goal. He played his last match for the club against Waterford on 15 December 1968, bringing his senior playing days to an end at the age of 37, though football itself still had plenty of use for him. Altrincham appointed him as manager during their first season in the newly formed Northern Premier League, and he also registered as a player, making a short appearance during an injury crisis, but his main work was now on the training ground and in the dugout.
Altrincham were attempting to adjust to a stronger regional competition that had been created as one of the leading levels below the Football League, and Woods brought the habits of a man who had played in every division from the First to the Fourth, as well as in Australia and Ireland. Results did not transform overnight, but the appointment broadened his experience and prepared him for a return to Edgeley Park, where Stockport brought him back in October 1969 as chief coach under manager Walter Galbraith.
County were now struggling in the Third Division, and Woods was initially expected to assist Galbraith while also overseeing the club’s youth policy, a part of the job that interested him because he could see young players beginning to respond to structured coaching. First-team problems soon swallowed that work, for Stockport spent most of 1969–70 near the bottom, victories were scarce and relegation became increasingly difficult to avoid, while financial pressure restricted every attempt to improve the squad.
Galbraith was dismissed in March 1970 and Woods was placed in temporary control, meaning the youth team had to be left behind as he tried to steady a senior side already heading towards the Fourth Division. He could not prevent the drop, and County finished bottom with only 22 points, having won four of their 46 league matches, but no manager could have repaired so much damage in the closing weeks. Even so, the board did not immediately settle the question of who would hold the job permanently, and Woods continued running the team while speculation carried through the summer and into the next season. It was not until late September 1970 that he was formally given the title of team manager, and even then he did not receive the security of a contract, an arrangement that reflected both County’s uncertain finances and the limited authority under which he was expected to work.
Stockport began the 1970–71 season reasonably well on their return to the Fourth Division, but any hope of mounting a promotion challenge was weakened by the club’s financial position, falling crowds and an inability to retain or recruit the players Woods wanted. Goalkeeper Alan Ogley’s injury caused particular trouble, and the shortage became so serious that County had to use amateur goalkeeper David Lawson in the FA Cup first-round tie away to Grantham on 21 November 1970, which the non-League side won 2–1. It was the sort of defeat that embarrassed a Football League club and increased the pressure on its manager, yet Woods was trying to build a side while knowing that almost any worthwhile offer for one of his players might be accepted.
Reports also suggested that members of the board attempted to influence the type of footballer he should sign, so responsibility for results was placed on the manager even when his control over recruitment remained uncertain. County recovered sufficiently to finish 11th, a respectable position after the previous season’s collapse, and Woods judged that the campaign had not been bad while insisting there was room for improvement, adding that the playing staff was considerably stronger than it had been twelve months earlier. There was logic in that assessment, but the team still lacked the depth and consistency required to challenge at the top, and the pressures around Edgeley Park had not disappeared.
The 1971–72 season began without the improvement Woods required, and County settled into the lower reaches of the Fourth Division, where the threat of another re-election struggle was never far away. League results created unease, but the FA Cup initially offered some relief when Stockport won 3–1 away to Doncaster Rovers in the first round on 20 November, earning a second-round visit to Northern League side Blyth Spartans. The tie at Croft Park on 11 December looked winnable on paper, yet non-League grounds could be unforgiving places for vulnerable Football League teams, and Blyth sensed their opportunity from the opening minutes. Stockport lost 1–0, with the home side defending their advantage fiercely, and Woods’s frustration spilled into his comments afterwards as he told reporters that his plans had been right but that the players had let him down, leaving him feeling that he had been wasting his time.
Those remarks may have reflected the anger of the moment, but they also exposed the breakdown between manager and team, and later that same day the club secretary telephoned Woods on the chairman’s instructions to tell him that he had been dismissed. His Stockport managerial record ended after 75 matches, with 23 victories, 18 draws and 34 defeats, but those bare totals cannot be separated from the financial restrictions, boardroom uncertainty and thin playing resources that shaped his period in control. Woods remained in football after leaving Edgeley Park, later coaching at Southport and working with the Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools, where his experience could be used without the week-to-week pressure that had accompanied management.