- Jonathan Woodgate
Biography
The England international defender secured ‘hero’ status just five games into his Spurs career when he headed home our winning goal in the League Cup Final at Wembley in February, 2008.
‘Woody’ soon established himself at the heart of our back-line following his move from Middlesbrough in January 2008, developing a solid partnership with Ledley King.
In 2008-09, his first full season in N17, was the definition of consistency during a season in which we conceded only 10 goals at home in the league.
He played 44 games in all competitions as one of the Club’s vice-captains, once again scoring one of the key goals of the campaign – a late winner in a 2-1 win at Hull City in February 2009 that sparked an incredible run of form, taking us to 8th in the Premier League by the end of the season.
However, groin trouble caused ‘Woody’ to miss the entire pre-season campaign in preparation for the current season.
He did not return to action until late October, 2009, but after just three games was back on the sidelines over the turn of the year thanks to further groin trouble.
Earlier on in his career, Jonathan had shot to prominence as a young defender in the Leeds United side that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001, prompting Newcastle United to snap him up in January, 2003.
He moved to La Liga giants Real Madrid in the summer of 2004, but injury his number of appearances in Spain to just 12 over the next two seasons.
He made the switch back to England and the Premier League with his home-town club Middlesbrough, initially on loan, in August 2006 before the move was made permanent in April, 2007.
An England international with eight caps to his name, Jonathan made his senior international debut in a European Championsip qualifier against Bulgaria in May 1999 having also featured at Under-21 level.
Jonathan Simon Woodgate (born 22 January 1980) is an English footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur as a defender. He has also played for Leeds United, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and Real Madrid.
Club career
Leeds United: Woodgate began his career at Middlesbrough but moved to Leeds United at the age of sixteen after disagreements over his future between Middlesbrough and his family. He helped Leeds to win the FA Youth Cup in 1997, and in November the following year made his debut for the senior side.
In 2000, he was a defendant with teammate Lee Bowyer in a Crown Court trial due to his involvement in an incident outside Leeds nightclub, Majestyks, in which a student suffered severe injuries. The initial trial collapsed and following a second trial, in December 2001, Bowyer was cleared of both charges while Woodgate was convicted of affray and sentenced to 100 hours’ community service. He was also banned from international selection by the Football Association, which prevented him from being selected for the England squad for the 2002 World Cup.
Woodgate was a consistent and impressive performer for Leeds during his time there, competing with the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Lucas Radebe and Dominic Matteo for a starting place. He was regarded as one of the most complete all round players to come through Leeds’ famous academy. And he performed for Leeds in the days where they competed in the UEFA Cup, Champions League and were regularly competing towards the top of the Premier League. His number of appearances were heavily reduced due to picking up several injuries on different occasions. But as a result of Leeds’ financial problems Woodgate was sold to Newcastle to raise some much needed funds. He was described as the club’s ‘jewel in the crown’ and his sale caused anger for many Leeds United fans as Peter Ridsdale revealed the perilous financial situation at the club. The sale also led to the dismissal of Terry Venables who disagreed with Woodgate’s departure.
Newcastle United: Woodgate signed for Newcastle United in January 2003 for £9 million. He impressed and quickly became a fan favourite, but a serious injury saw him end his final season early. Woodgate never had an injury-free run in the team.
Real Madrid: Woodgate signed for Real Madrid in August 2004 for a transfer fee of £13.4 million. This was to the surprise of many in the football world, due to his frequent absences through injury at his previous clubs, and indeed he was injured at the time of the transfer.
Woodgate did not make any appearances for Real Madrid in his first season in Spain, eventually making his debut on 22 September 2005, in a league match against Athletic Bilbao. The game went badly for him, as he scored an own goal and was later sent off for a second bookable offence; however, Woodgate was applauded and cheered from the pitch and was regarded for a period of his time at the club as something of a cult-hero. He scored his only goal for Real Madrid in the 4–1 UEFA Champions League defeat of Rosenborg BK on 19 October 2005, his first appearance for the club in European competition.
By February 2006, Woodgate had established himself as a first team player, with the other centre half position rotating among Sergio Ramos, Iván Helguera, Francisco Pavon and Álvaro Mejía. One Spanish newspaper even described him as having “become Madrid’s true leader”. However, further injury setbacks again stopped him playing. He was considered to have an outside chance of making the England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but due to surgery on his back was not named in the squad.
In July 2007, Woodgate was voted the worst signing of the 21st century by users of the website of Spain’s leading sports daily, Diario Marca, polling 37.11% of the votes cast.
Middlesbrough: On 30 August 2006, Woodgate signed a one-year loan move to hometown club Middlesbrough. He made his debut against Arsenal at The Emirates Stadium on 9 September. He was later voted man of the match by local radio station, Century FM. He was made captain for his second game for Middlesbrough, as usual captain George Boateng was suspended. In April 2007 Middlesbrough announced Woodgate would be their first summer signing for a fee of £7 million. He signed a four-year contract, keeping him at the club until June 2011.
In October 2007 he was crowned North East Player of the Year by the Prince’s Trust, beating players from Newcastle and Sunderland. During the 2007–08 pre-season Woodgate suffered an injury that allowed fellow hometown defender David Wheater to start in his place during pre-season. Wheater’s form in pre-season earened him a starting XI place for the opening day Premier League fixture – Wheater’s form then continued which triggered the transfer of Woodgate to Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham Hotspur: After rejecting the chance to resign for Newcastle United F.C.On 28 January 2008 Woodgate moved to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £7 million. He made his Tottenham debut against Everton on 30 January 2008. He scored his first Tottenham goal on 24 February 2008 in the League Cup final against Chelsea in extra time to win Tottenham their first trophy since 1999. His performance won him the Man of the Match award.
Woodgate scored his first Spurs league goal on 19 March 2008, coincidentally also against Chelsea, in a 4–4 draw at White Hart Lane. He first captained Tottenham in a 2–1 defeat at White Hart Lane to Aston Villa on 15 September. Following Harry Redknapp’s appointment, Woodgate became the second vice-captain, behind Robbie Keane.
On Spurs’ disastrous start to the 2008–09 season, Woodgate told the press that it was worse than when Leeds were relegated. This despite the fact that Woodgate was transferred to Newcastle United some 16 months before Leeds’s eventual relegation at the end of 2003–04.
At the end of Spurs highly successful 2009–10 campaign, Redknapp hinted at Woodgate’s exit due to having to comply with new Premier League rules which limited squad sizes to 25 – ironically these rules were put in place in order to help the careers of English and Welsh footballers.
International career: He was capped several times by England while at Leeds, making his debut for the national side under manager Kevin Keegan in 1999, when he became the first player born in the 1980s to win a full England cap, against Belgium. However, both his club and international career have frequently been interrupted, not only by injury, but by controversy.
Woodgate won his sixth cap – almost three years after his fifth – and his first start in an international friendly against Spain on 7 February 2007.