John Wood

John Bertram Wood (20 October 1872 – 10 October 1921) was an English footballer and referee. He is best known for being the fundamental head behind the foundation of French club White Rovers in 1891, one of the first football clubs in Paris, and then serving the club as its captain in the mid-1890s. He then became a referee and officiated at the football tournament of the 1900 Summer Olympics, in which he oversaw a match between the representative sides of France and Belgium. He also refereed a match between the official sides of those two nations on 22 April 1906.

Early life John Bertram Wood was born in Tottenham on 20 October 1872, They met Standard AC in the final, but despite Wood captaining by example and scoring once in a 2–2 draw, the Rovers ended as runners-up after losing the replay 0–2. Among his teammates in 1894, there were Ernest Cotton, Cox, MacQueen, and his brother Sid. In January 1897, Wood scored a goal to help the Rovers to a 3–0 win over FC Levallois.

Wood also played for Standard AC and Club Français,

On 22 October 1899, Wood assisted the White Rovers' opening goal with an "excellent corner kick" to help his side to a 1–1 draw with United Sports Club. Following the White Rovers' dissolution in 1899, Wood joined United Sports Club.

As a referee, Wood officiated in one of the only two games at the 1900 Paris Olympics, between a French side represented by USFSA and a Belgian side made up almost entirely of students of the University of Brussels, which ended in a 6–2 win for the French side. A few months later, on 23 December 1900, Wood attended the final of the 1900 Coupe Manier between Club Français and UA I arrondissement in Joinville-le-Pont, but it was halted because the organizers of the tournament had somehow forgotten to appoint a referee; fortunately, "a spectator, Mr. Jack Wood of U.S.C.", as well as a former player of CF, offered himself up to the task, and so the final began an hour later, ending in a 1–0 victory in favor of his former club.

During the 1901 United Kingdom census, Wood was in Devon, but the reasons behind this travel remain unclear. In the following month, on 20 April, he refereed the final of the 1902 USFSA Football Championship between RC Roubaix and RC de France, which ended in a 3–3 draw, but after consulting with Wood, the two captains agreed to keep extending the match by 15 minutes until the tie had been broken; however, the winning goal of Roubaix was only scored in the sixth period of extra-time, in the 175th minute, after nearly three hours of play.

On 4 January 1903, Wood refereed the final of the 1902 Coupe Manier between Club Français and Olympique Lillois, which ended in a 7–0 win to his former club; the local press stated that his performance was "impeccable as usual". Two months later, on 15 March, he refereed the final of the 1903 Coupe Dewar, in which United SC defeated his former club (CF) 4–3 after extra-time. Then, in the following month, on 19 April, he refereed the final of the 1903 USFSA Football Championship, which was contested by the same opponents of the 1902 final, and again with a victory for Roubaix (3–1); the local press stated that he "made no mistake".

On 16 April 1905, Wood oversaw the final of the USFSA National Championship between Gallia Club and RC Roubaix at the Parc des Princes, which ended in a 1–0 win to the former thanks to a 118th-minute goal from Raymond Jouve. Moments before, however, a goal had been whistled in favor of Gallia during a scramble near the Roubaix goal line, but after consulting the touch judges, Wood acknowledged that he could not have seen whether the ball had totally crossed the line, and despite the immense pressure of the Parisien crowd at the Parc des Princes to award the goal, he decide otherwise.

Later career Throughout his refereeing career, the French press constantly praised his performances, so he eventually became a unanimous referee who was very rarely criticized (an impressive feat for that time); for instance, in 1903, the journalists of the French newspaper L'Auto (the forerunner of L'Équipe) stated that he was "generally considered the best referee".

As one of the most renowned referees in French football, Wood inevitably reached international status, and thus, on 22 April 1906, he refereed his first (and only) international match, a meeting between France and Belgium at Stade Français, ending in a 5–0 win to the latter.

Pioneering the French national team In February 1903, Wood was United SC's representative in the USFSA's football commission. Later that year, Wood decided to invite to Paris the prestigious Corinthians, a club specializing in European tours and who had the best English amateur footballers, to play a match against a French team. It was he who took care of the financing and of the selection of French players, which included 5 provincials, thus no longer being a team exclusively from Paris;

Two weeks later, on 1 May, Guérin's USFSA organized the first "official" match of France against Belgium, the so-called Évence Coppée Trophy, as part of the creation of FIFA, hence why Guérin did not allow neither SEFA nor Wood to intervene in this match; however, France's inaugural team included seven of the players who faced Corinthians in April, most of which had been selected by Weber and Wood, so even though Guérin chose the players without their help, he still validated some of their previous choices.

Later life Outside football, he was a lawyer. During the 1911 United Kingdom census, Wood was again in Devon, then married to an American wife, Evelyn, but the couple was childless and living on "private means".

Death At some point, Wood returned to France, where he died in Neuilly-sur-Seine on 10 October 1921, at the age of 48, as a widower remarried.

Honours Robin Hood F.C. Middlesex Junior Cup: Champions (1): 1893

White Rovers USFSA Football Championship: Runner-up (1): 1894