Chris Wood – Setting Records
He’s bagged goals wherever he’s played, be it for club, or for country, and now, on what was his 33 birthday, Christopher Grant Wood has become the leading Premier League scorer for Nottingham Forest, with 25 goals, doing so with the winner, at Old Trafford, against Manchester United.
Overtaking that which was set by Dutchman, Bryan Roy, in the heady of the mid-nineties, when Forest even graced Europe, reaching the quarter-finals of the old UEFA Cup in 1995-96; Wood, he was but four years old, and living in his native New Zealand, when the Reds drew 0-0 in France, with Lyon, to book a clash with German giants, Bayern Munich, three months later.
Now, three decades on, and Forest fans, they’re trying not to fully dream of a long-overdue crack at Europe, but with Wood, alongside the like of Taiwo Awoniyi, Anthony Elanga, and Callum Hudson-Odoi, maybe they can dream a little bit.
Nottingham though, it’s a far cry from that of Onehunga Sports, and Cambridge, where Wood cut his teeth as a footballer, before moving up the league in his homeland, to ASB Premiership club, Waikato, in 2007-08 – Wood was still but a teenager back then.
THE ENGLISH JOURNEY BEGINS
His rise caught the attention of West Bromwich Albion, coming over to England in early 2009 and studying at Sandwell Academy, whilst on the playing fields, proving prolific for the Baggies’ youth and reserves sides, going on to make a sock, Premier League debut, against Portsmouth, in April 2009.
The Baggies were to be the first of a dozen clubs in which Wood has played for since moving to England all those years ago, they sending him out on-loan six times (Barnsley, Brighton & Hove Albion, Birmingham City, Bristol City, Millwall, and Leicester City), before finally moving to the latter of those in 2013, scoring goals along the way.
His early tenure at Leicester was again, full of goals, bagging a brace inside twenty-five minutes of his debut, against Huddersfield Town, on 1 January 2013, then bagging a hat-trick, two weeks later, against Bristol City, going on to help his side reach the Championship play-offs at the end of that season.
A loan spell at Leeds United, and a move to Ipswich Town soon followed for the now, journeyman-like striker, before a transfer battle with Burnley led to his moving from Elland Road, to Turf Moor, for what was then an undisclosed, club record fee.
Goals continued to flow for a player who has had a knack of notching against his former clubs and, on 6 March 2021, on the day he scored his fortieth Premier League goal (a 1-1 draw against Arsenal), he became the eighth Burnley player to start a century of Premier League games for the club.
The following month, April 2021, Wood became the first New Zealander to score a Premier League hat-trick, doing so in Burnley’s 4-0 win at Molineux, against Wolverhampton Wanderers, all three goals coming in the first half.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Wood’s stock continued to rise, much like his goals tally in the Premier League and, in the January transfer window of 2022, Eddie Howe and Newcastle United made their move for the six-foot plus frontman.
At thirty years old, some would have considered his being too old for a Magpies side coming out of the darkness of a previous regime; Wood’s signing, was to compensate for the loss to injury of Callum Wilson, and was their second of that window, at £25 million, following the arrival of Kieran Trippier form Atletico Madrid, Magpies boss, Howe, saying of his arrival at the time: “ (Wood is an) important signing for us at a crucial time.
“He is a very dangerous attacking threat, has a physicality and character that I really like, and he has vast experience in the Premier League. He will be a great fit for us.”
There weren’t many goals, but they were crucial ones, in his two, half seasons, at St. James Park, before being moved out, initially on-loan, to Forest, twelve months later.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Former Forest boss, Steve Cooper, brought Wood to the City Ground now shy of twenty-four months ago as a proven scorer and, whilst also commending the atmosphere and fan-base of the Reds fans, said upon his arrival in January 2023: “It’s a club looking up rather than anything else, it’s going to take a lot of hard work, but it’s a squad that’s pulling together.
“I’ve been in this league a long time, so hopefully I’ll bring a lot of experience to try and help the younger lads out and bring everybody together.”
Things have certainly changed, for the better, at the City Ground, since his arrival, that’s for sure.
Wood’s first goal for the Reds, that was against Manchester City, on 18 February 2023, in a 1-1 draw at the City Ground, the equalising goal arriving with six minutes remaining, following a cross from Morgan Gibbs-White, and which would prove, eventually, to be the first of many for Wood in the famous Garibaldi.
After missing the end of the 2022-23 season with a thigh injury, Wood signed a permanent contract at the City Ground in June 2023, leaving the Magpies for a reported, £15 million; despite mixed feelings from the Forest faithful, the decision to repay was repaid when, on Boxing Day that year, he bagged a hat-trick as the Reds came from behind to defeat Newcastle 3-1 – Nuno Espirito Santo claiming his first win at the helm having replaced Cooper the previous week.
That hat-trick for Wood meant that he became only the fourth player in Premier League history to achieve such a feat against a former club, the others being Andy Cole (for Manchester United, against Newcastle, scoring four times in 1999), Marcus Bent (for Wigan Athletic, against Blackburn Rovers in 2007), and Joshua King (for Watford, against Everton in 2021).
Wood, last season, notched fifteen goals in 35 appearances across all competitions, and was Forest’s top scorer.
THIS SEASON
The goals, they’ve continued to flow for Wood during the first half of the 2024-25 season, and have played a big part as Forest find themselves challenging amongst the European places, in the top half of the Premier League table.
Scoring the season opener for the Reds, in the 1-1 draw with AFC Bournemouth, back in mid-August, Wood is currently the club’s top scorer this season with ten in all competitions, which included a brace in the 3-1 at Leicester City in October, and the winner against Ipswich Town last month, results set him up, nicely as it happens, to break the Reds’ Premier League scoring record, on his birthday.
At Old Trafford, against fallen Premier League giants, Manchester United, the Reds would win a see-saw game 3-2, their first at the ground since December 1994, some thirty years ago – Nikola Milenkovic gave the visitors the lead in the opening minutes, with Rasmus Hojlund levelling inside twenty, the sides going in 1-1 at the break.
Morgan Gibbs-White restored the Reds’ advantage minutes after the restart, before Wood made history, heading home from close range to extend their lead, although Bruno Fernandes did make it 3-2 just after the hour, Wood’s record-breaking goal di prove to be the winner.
INTERNATIONAL ICON
As well as being Forest’s all-time Premier League scorer, Wood is also the captain, and all-time top scorer for New Zealand, his representation of his country seeing him play at U17, U23, and Olympic level, going on to make his international debut, against Tanzania, in a friendly, back in June 2009.
Scoring goals at club level has been matched on the international stage also, he bagging 41 in 80 appearances for his country, the first coming in a 1-1 draw, on 10/10/10, against Honduras; he’s also helped his country to silverware, they winning the OFC Nations Cup in 2016.
During that competition, Wood netted four times, including the winning goal in the 1-0 semi-final win over New Caledonia.
Nuno, he summed it up nicely after the Manchester United though, saying of Wood: “He’s doing amazing. We’re so glad to have him. It’s never too late.”
Now isn’t that the truth, and, at 33-years-old, just how many goals will he bag in the famous Garibaldi Red, only time will tell….
*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).
*Main image @NFFC Chris Wood grabbed his 25th Premier League goal for Forest.
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