Harry Wood

Harry Wood (26 June 1868 – 5 July 1951) was an English professional footballer who played most of his career as an inside forward for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton.

Playing career

Wolverhampton Wanderers A real gentleman, he was a model professional who played the game with great skill and enthusiasm. A pen–picture printed in 1889 described him as being "clever in ball manipulation and staidley exact distribution." He certainly gave the fans something to cheer about during his two spells with Wanderers. On leaving school Wood played briefly for Walsall Swifts, 1884–1885, joining Wolves in the summer of 1885 and making his senior debut for the Wanderers in an FA Cup tie against Derby St. Luke's on 31 October 1885.

Wood's first spell at Wolves lasted six years, until July 1891 when he re–signed for Walsall Town Swifts. In his first spell Wood scored 46 goals (35 Football League) in 87 League and Cup matches for the Wanderers (60 League); He was also Wolves' top scorer in 1890–91 (jointly with Sammy Thomson). In his second he netted another 80 goals (74 League) in 202 appearances (181 League), he also top–scored in season 1892–93, finishing up with an impressive record of more than 125 goals in just under 300 first–team games. and also represented the Football League. He starred in three FA Cup Finals with Wolves, those of 1889, 1893 and 1896, collecting a winners medal in his second against Everton when he led an exceptionally fine match. Wood made 289 appearances and scored 126 goals for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

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 1899–1900 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 Southampton

After hanging up his boots, Wood was appointed trainer of Portsmouth, a position he held until 1912 when he became landlord of the Milton Arms public house, situated 200 yards from Fratton Park. Wood spent the rest of his life in Portsmouth, where he died on 5 July 1951 at the age of 83.

Honours Source

Wolverhampton Wanderers FA Cup Winner: 1893 FA Cup Finalist: 1889, 1896

Southampton FA Cup Finalist: 1900, 1902 Southern League Championship: 1898–99, 1900–01, 1902–03, 1903–04