John Woods (rugby league)

John Woods

John Woods Statue outside Leigh Sports Village (since 2016)

Personal information

Full name

John Woods

Born

14 September 1956 (age 67)
Leigh, Greater Manchester, England

Playing information

Position

Fullback, Centre, Stand-off

Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1976–85	Leigh	302	135	859	11	2172
1985–87	Bradford Northern	62	21	167	3	421
1987–89	Warrington	72	25	254	5	613
1989–90	Rochdale Hornets	28	16	65	0	194
1990–92	Leigh	44+3	17	125	2	320
	Total	511	214	1470	21	3720
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1979–81	England	7	2	8	0	22
1979–87	Great Britain	11	1	13	0	29
1977–87^[1]	Lancashire	6	5	5	0	25
1977–79^[2]	GB Under 24	5	2	11	0	28
1979^[3]	GB tour games	12+1	12	62	1	161

Coaching information

Club
Years	Team	Gms	W	D	L	W%
1984–85	Leigh	36	11	2	23	31

Source: ^[4]^[5]^[6]

As of 12 October 2020

John Woods is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and England, and at club level for Leigh (two spells), Bradford Northern, Warrington and Rochdale Hornets, as a goal-kicking fullback, centre, or stand-off, and coached at club level for Leigh.

Playing career

International honours

John Woods won caps for England while at Leigh in 1979 against Wales (interchange/substitute), and France, in 1980 against Wales (interchange/substitute), and France, in 1981 against France, Wales, and Wales (interchange/substitute),^[5] and won caps for Great Britain while at Leigh in 1979 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand, in 1980 against New Zealand, in 1981 against France (2 matches), in 1982 against Australia, and Australia (interchange/substitute), in 1983 against France, and while at Warrington in 1987 against Papua New Guinea.^[6]

County Cup Final appearances

John Woods played stand-off, and scored 2-goals in Leigh's 8–3 victory over Widnes in the 1981 Lancashire County Cup Final during the 1981–82 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 26 September 1981, and played stand-off, and scored 2-goals in Warrington's 16–28 defeat by Wigan in the 1987 Lancashire County Cup Final during the 1987–88 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens on Sunday 11 October 1987.^[7]

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final appearances

John Woods played left-centre, i.e. number 4, in Leigh's 4–12 defeat by Castleford in the 1976 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1976–77 season at Hilton Park, Leigh on Tuesday 14 December 1976.^{[citation needed]}

Career records

John Woods holds Leigh's "Most Career Points" record with 2,492 points,.^[8] With 3,985-points he is sixth on British rugby league's "most points in a career" record list behind Neil Fox, Jim Sullivan, Kevin Sinfield, Gus Risman and Danny Brough.^[9]

Testimonial match

John Woods' Testimonial match at Leigh took place in 1984.

References

^ Rothmans RL Yearbook 1989-90 by Raymond Fletcher and David Howes page 364 ISBN 0356178501
^ Rothmans RL Yearbook 1989-90 by Raymond Fletcher and David Howes page 348 ISBN 0356178501
^ History of Rugby League Volume 85 1978-79 edited by Irvin Saxton page 25
^ "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
^ "1987–1988 Lancashire Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
^ "Leigh at greyhoundderby.com". greyhoundderby.com. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
^ "Sinfield close to moving up all-time points list". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.