Chris WOODS

If ever patience needed to be one of the virtues among England goalkeepers, it was evident by the bodyload in the case of Chris Woods. The Norwich City stopper found his route to the penalty area blocked by the awesome presence of Peter Shilton when he was first touted for international duty in 1985. Woods had been Shilton's understudy before, when the two were at Nottingham Forest and Woods was a teenager, but this was the biggest goalkeeping job of them all and the same man was blocking his path. Bobby Robson saw a very brave keeper in Woods as he fought gamely but in vain to keep Norwich away from the relegation zone in 1985, with Shilton-esque qualities of concentration, sharp reflexes and a happy knack of stopping even the most instinctive and powerful of attempts on his goal. After taking him on the 1985 summer tour of Mexico to see how the land lay, Robson gave Chris his full debut in a Los Angeles stop-off where England beat the USA 5-0. Only injury to Shilton would see Woods playing any competitive international football in the near future as England resumed their excellent qualification campaign for the 1986 World Cup and Chris quietly and loyally sat on the bench, gloved and shirted, in case Shilton came a cropper. He never did, although Robson gave him more feels of the ball with three appearances as a sub in early 1986. The quarter-final defeat to Diego Maradona's Argentina was a recent and painful memory by the time Woods received his next England start, but this time Shilton was injured and the game was competitive.

Yugoslavia were the Wembley visitors for a 1988 European Championship qualifier and Woods - now at Glasgow Rangers - took to the field, bellowed the instructions and kept a clean sheet as England won 2-0. Two defenders got the goals, suggesting a confidence in their raw keeper which made them willing to venture forward, but normal service quickly resumed with Shilton back in tow; Woods gaining further experience with sub appearances in a friendly against Spain and a qualifier against Northern Ireland. Chris played in another qualifier - this time because Turkey were the whipping boys and Robson felt Shilton was briefly dispensible - in April 1987 and England won 8-0, then won his ninth cap in a dour goalless draw in the Rous Cup versus Scotland (the photo above is during the game). He had yet to concede a goal, with the only opposition strike in a game featuring Woods coming before he had been introduced as a substitute against Israel prior to the World Cup. This seemed a good omen but nothing was going to prise the shirt away from Shilton when it really mattered and as England secured their place in the European Championship finals in West Germany, Chris was again on the bench. He played in two of the warm-ups - still not conceding a goal as England drew 0-0 with Israel and Hungary - but Shilton was the man primed to keep out the continent's best centre forwards in West Germany, with Woods again sitting on the touchlines and watching. (Matthew Rudd)

Chris Woods won his 30th international cap - seven whole years after his first - in May 1992 as England got a 1-1 friendly draw with Brazil at Wembley in their warm-up programme prior to the European Championships in Sweden. Soon things became chaotic for England, with defenders - especially right backs - dropping like flies with injuries that ruled them out of the tournament. Woods, as England's goalkeeper-in-chief for the first time at a major finals, found himself instructing a makeshift, inexperienced and untried back four and England were too cautious as a consequence. Chris had a narrow escape when a John Jensen shot hit his post as England drew 0-0 with Denmark in the opening game before managing the same scoreline against France. England needed to beat the hosts to go through, but a brilliant one-two and shot from Tomas Brolin flashed past Woods with eight minutes to go and sent England out. The qualification campaign for the 1994 World Cup loomed and Chris, having sat through the entirety of the previous two tournaments, seemed to have as good a reason as anyone to make England a success in their group. It started poorly, as a freakish 35 yard shot from Norwegian midfielder Kjetil Rekdal gave the visitors a point at Wembley, with Woods standing no chance of getting to it. England regrouped and Chris had a quiet time of it at Wembley during the 4-0 and 6-0 picnics against Turkey and San Marino. Woods kept another clean sheet as England defeated Turkey again, in Izmir, but then the Dutch were due in town.

England were 2-0 up and seemingly coasting but a superbly disguised chip-volley from Dennis Bergkamp wrongfooted Woods - winning his 40th cap - and gave Holland a lifeline, then Peter van Vossen scored a late penalty and earned Holland a point. The games in Poland and Norway were now vital, with the visit to Norway (the photo above is during the game) seen to be especially tough after England's crucial underestimation of their opponents previously. After a 1-1 draw in Poland, the squad immediately decamped to Oslo and Graham Taylor decided, with little rehearsal or coherence, to switch the defence to a wing back system. England were confused, Norway ran riot and Woods conceded twice, one of which was a poor goal from his point of view as it was slotted in at his near post, with Chris slow to react. Although there were three qualifiers left and England could still go through to the finals in the USA, Taylor was receiving severe press criticism, which reached a peak when England travelled to the USA for a mini-tournament and immediately lost the opening game, soullessly, to the hosts. Woods conceded two sloppy goals and Taylor had seen enough. He put back-up keepers Tim Flowers and Nigel Martyn in goal for the remaining games of the tour and then on returning home, made the absent Seaman his number one goalkeeper for the rest of the qualifying group, from which England did notearn a place at the finals. Chris never played for his country again, despite Taylor's own departure six months later, as Seaman took a firm hold on the job and gave new coach Terry Venables no reason to change his mind. It seemed a little harsh on Woods, a very good goalkeeper, to be dumped so easily after so long waiting for his moment, but ultimately he didn't instil the confidence in team or coach that his predecessor managed, and results suffered. (Matthew Rudd)