Vivian Woodward facts for kids
Woodward while playing for England
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Vivian John Woodward | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 3 June 1879 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kennington, Surrey, England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 31 January 1954 (aged 74) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Ealing, England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Centre forward, inside forward | ||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ascham College | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||||||||
| 1895–1900 | Clacton Town | 25+ | (46+) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1900–1901 | Harwich & Parkeston | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1901 | Chelmsford | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1901–1909 | Tottenham Hotspur | 146 | (68) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1909 | Chelmsford | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1909–1915 | Chelsea | 106 | (30) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1919–1920 | Clacton Town | 6 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | 283 | (148) | |||||||||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1903–1911 | England | 23 | (29) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1906–1914 | England Amateurs | 30 | (45) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1908–1912 | Great Britain | 6 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||
| Southern League XI | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1908–1913 | Football League XI | 3 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Vivian John Woodward (born June 3, 1879 – died January 31, 1954) was a famous English footballer. He was at the top of his game from the early 1900s until the First World War began. Woodward played for well-known clubs like Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
He was the captain of the Great Britain Olympic team. He led them to win gold medals at the 1908 Olympics in London and again in Stockholm in 1912. Woodward scored 29 goals in just 23 matches for the England national team. This was a record from 1911 until 1958. His amazing scoring rate of 1.26 goals per game is the second highest ever for an England player.
Vivian Woodward joined the British Army during the First World War. Because of this, he missed out on Chelsea's first-ever FA Cup final in 1915. Injuries he got during the war meant he had to stop playing football. After his playing career, he served on Chelsea's Board of Directors from 1922 to 1930.
Contents
Playing for Clubs
Vivian Woodward was also an architect. He started his football journey at Clacton Town. After playing for Harwich & Parkeston and Chelmsford, he joined Tottenham Hotspur in March 1901. That same year, Tottenham won the FA Cup.
Woodward's first game for Tottenham was on April 6, 1901. It was a Southern League match against Bristol City, which Spurs won 1–0. He didn't play regularly until the 1902–03 season. This was because of his work and his love for cricket. In nine seasons at Tottenham, he played 169 games and scored 73 goals.
Tottenham joined the Second Division in the 1908–09 season. Woodward scored Spurs' first-ever goal in the Football League in September 1908. It was against Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Spurs won 3–0. He helped the team get promoted to the First Division that season.
Before the 1909 season, Woodward decided to stop playing football. He wanted to focus on his architecture work and cricket. He had a short time back with Chelmsford. But then, David Calderhead convinced him to join Chelsea on November 20, 1909. He played 116 games for Chelsea and scored 34 goals. He was their top scorer in the 1912–13 season with ten goals.
When the First World War started, he joined the British Army. This meant he didn't play many matches during the 1914–15 season. He was given special permission to join Chelsea for the FA Cup Final at Old Trafford. This was because Bob Thomson was injured. However, Thomson recovered, and Woodward chose not to play. He didn't want to take away Thomson's chance to play in an FA Cup final. Woodward had not played in any of Chelsea's games leading up to the final.
Woodward was injured in his right thigh during the war. This injury stopped him from returning to top-level football.
Playing for England
England National Team
Vivian Woodward played his first game for the England team in 1903. He scored two goals in a 4–0 win against Ireland. Between 1903 and 1911, he played 23 official games and scored 29 goals. This set an English record that lasted until the 1950s. He also played in three unofficial international matches against South Africa in 1910, scoring four more goals.
Back then, England usually played only three matches a season. These were for the British Home Championship. But two trips to Europe in 1908 and 1909 helped Woodward score 15 goals. This was more than half of his total goals for England. He held the overall England goal-scoring record for 47 years. No other player held it longer until Tom Finney passed him in 1958. With his 28th and 29th goals, he passed Steve Bloomer against Wales in March 1911. Tom Finney didn't pass Woodward until October 1958.
England Amateurs
Woodward also played 44 times for the England Amateurs team. He scored 57 goals for them. The England Amateurs often played against the main teams from European countries. At that time, football in Europe was not as developed as it was in Britain. This often led to big wins for England, and Woodward would score many goals in these games. For example, in a match against France in 1906, some reports say Woodward scored eight goals in a 15–0 win. He also scored six goals against the Netherlands in 1909.
Many of his goals for the England Amateurs were considered official by FIFA and the opposing teams. This means Woodward scored a total of 75 goals in 53 international matches. These were games that the other teams considered official. This would make him the first footballer to score 50 international goals. He scored 10 hat-tricks (three or more goals in one game) in total for the England teams. This included a six-goal game against the Netherlands in 1909.
Woodward also played for the Football League XI and the Southern League XI. He also traveled to the United States with The Pilgrims team in 1905.
Olympic Success
Woodward was the captain of the Great Britain Olympic team. He led them to win gold medals at the 1908 Olympics in London. He then led them to another gold medal in Stockholm in 1912. He scored three goals in 1908, including one in the final game. He scored two more goals in 1912.
Military Service
During World War I, Vivian Woodward joined the 17th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. This was a "Pals battalion" which meant it was made up of friends and people from the same area. It was also known as a "Footballers Battalion" because many players from Tottenham Hotspur joined it. Woodward served on the Western Front and was injured in 1916. He reached the rank of Captain.
Images for kids
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Woodward while playing for England
