 Woodburn in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benjamin Luke Woodburn[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1999-10-15)15 October 1999 (age 25)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder[3] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Salford City | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2007–2016 | Liverpool | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2022 | Liverpool | 6 | (0) |
| 2018 | →Sheffield United (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | →Oxford United (loan) | 11 | (1) |
| 2020–2021 | →Blackpool (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | →Heart of Midlothian (loan) | 28 | (3) |
| 2022–2024 | Preston North End | 58 | (1) |
| 2024– | Salford City | 15 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014 | Wales U15 | 2 | (0) |
| 2015 | Wales U16 | 1 | (3) |
| 2014–2016 | Wales U17 | 8 | (1) |
| 2016–2018 | Wales U19 | 4 | (2) |
| 2017–2021 | Wales | 11 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:31, 3 December 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:51, 14 June 2022 (UTC) | |||
Benjamin Luke Woodburn (born 15 October 1999) is a professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder forEFL League Two clubSalford City and theWales national team. A versatile player, Woodburn can be deployed as acentral midfielder,attacking midfielder,left winger orforward.
Woodburn joined the football academy of Liverpool when he was seven years old. Nearly a decade later, upon making his senior debut in 2016, he became the third-youngest player ever to play for the club and, in just his second appearance, brokeMichael Owen's long-standing record to become Liverpool's youngest goalscorer. He subsequently went on loan toSheffield United,Oxford United,Blackpool andHearts.
Woodburn represents Wales at international level and became the nation's second youngest goalscorer behindGareth Bale when he scored on his senior debut in 2017.
Born inNottingham, Nottinghamshire, Woodburn was raised inTattenhall, Cheshire, and played bothcricket and football from a young age.[3][4][5] He joinedLiverpool's academy at under-7 level where he steadily progressed through the youth ranks, leading to former academy director Frank McParland identifying him as one of the brightest prospects at the club.[6][4] During his schooling, Liverpool agreed to a request from Woodburn's parents that he should stay at home rather than inRainhill, which was closer to the academy inKirkby. In order to facilitate his development, the club arranged for a driver to transport him every day from training back to his home in Tattenhall.[7] When he was 15 years old, Woodburn left his high school,Bishop Heber High School and was fast-tracked from Liverpool's under-16s to the under-18s where his rapid development saw him included in Liverpool's "Futures Group", a programme which afforded the club's most talented young players a weekly opportunity to train with then first-teamcoach, Pep Lijnders.[8][9]
Having impressed first-teammanagerJürgen Klopp during these training sessions, Woodburn was handed his non-competitive debut during the2016–17 pre-season in a 1–0 win overTranmere Rovers.[10] He came off the bench in Liverpool's next match to score one and assist another forRoberto Firmino in a 5–0friendly win overFleetwood Town.[11] Woodburn then, along withKevin Stewart and fellow academy graduateTrent Alexander-Arnold, signed his first professional contract with Liverpool on 8 November 2016.[12]
He made his senior debut for Liverpool on 26 November, coming on as a 92nd-minutesubstitute forGeorginio Wijnaldum in a 2–0 Premier League victory overSunderland.[13] Upon doing so, Woodburn became Liverpool's third-youngest debutant of all time at the age of 17 years and 42 days, and the club's second youngest in the Premier League, behindJack Robinson.[14] Three days later, he became Liverpool'syoungest goalscorer at the age of 17 years and 45 days when he came off the bench to score in anEFL Cup quarter-final win overLeeds United, betteringMichael Owen's record by 98 days.[15][16][17] Following his rapid development at Liverpool, bothSky Sports andThe Guardian named Woodburn as one of the top young players to watch in 2017.[18][19]
On 8 January 2017, he became the then-youngest player to represent the club in theFA Cup when he started in a 0–0 draw withPlymouth Argyle.[20][21] His first start in the league followed on 4 April in a 2–1 away triumph overStoke City which saw him become the third-youngest player to start for Liverpool in the Premier League era behind Owen andJordon Ibe.[22][23][24] The following week he was nominated for the 2017European Golden Boy award, but was beaten by French forwardKylian Mbappé.[25][26] On 9 May, Woodburn won Liverpool's Academy Player of the Season award following a campaign which saw him score eight goals inPremier League 2 and break into the first team.[27][28] He was also later nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Season award alongside Alexander-Arnold, though the award was ultimately won bySwansea City'sOli McBurnie.[29][30]
The following season, Liverpool's academy coachSteven Gerrard named Woodburn as captain of the under-19 side for the club'sUEFA Youth League campaign, a competition which ran parallel to the season'sUEFA Champions League.[31] He made just one senior appearance, as a substitute,[32] during the first half of the season but signed a new long-term deal with Liverpool in October and was namedBBC Wales Young Sportsman of the Year in December.[33][34][35]
Woodburn continued to represent the youth and reserve sides at the start of the second half of the season. On 21 February 2018, he scored once andassisted another as Liverpool beatManchester United's U19 side 2–0 to qualify for the quarter finals of the UEFA Youth League.[36] There, the club was eliminated byManchester City.[37] He made his second and only other senior appearance for the season on 13 May, coming on as a late substitute forMohamed Salah in a 4–0 league win overBrighton.[32] On 1 July, he and club teammates Alexander-Arnold andHerbie Kane were named on the shortlist for the2018 Golden Boy award.[38]
On 31 July 2018, Woodburn signed on a season-longloan withChampionship sideSheffield United.[39] He made his debut for the club four days later, coming off the bench forDavid McGoldrick in a 2–1 loss to Swansea.[40] His first start followed on 14 August in a League Cup tie againstHull City where, with the scores level after regulation time, the match progressed to apenalty shootout.[40] Woodburn converted his spot kick but Sheffield United were ultimately defeated after his former Liverpool teammate Kevin Stewart scored the winning penalty for Hull.[41] He struggled for game time during the first half of the season, however, compounded by an ankle injury sustained in December and by the midway point of the campaign had only made eight appearances for the club.[40][42]
He was subsequently recalled from his loan by Liverpool where he spent the remainder of the season, making sporadic appearances for the club's U23 side.[43][44] Woodburn was also included in the side's squad for the knockout phases of the Champions League, which Liverpool went on to win after a 2–0 victory overTottenham Hotspur in thefinal, although he was not included in the matchday squad.[45][46]
On 30 July 2019, Woodburn signed withLeague One sideOxford United on a season-long loan.[47][48] He made his Oxford debut in a 1–1 draw atSunderland on the opening day of the2019–20 season, and assistedTariqe Fosu for his team's goal.[49] On 24 August, he scored his first goal for the club, opening the scoring in a 3–1 defeat toBristol Rovers.[50] His campaign was once again disrupted by injury, however, after he suffered a broken bone in his foot in October which ruled him out for a number of weeks. Woodburn returned to Merseyside to recover but, on his final training session before reuniting with Oxford in December, suffered a "carbon copy" of the injury in his other foot; an injury head coachKarl Robinson later revealed stemmed from the peculiar manner in which the player bore weight on his feet.[51][52][53]
On 16 October 2020, Woodburn joinedBlackpool on loan until 17 January. He linked up again with the former under-23s head coach at Liverpool, now manager at Blackpool,Neil Critchley.[54]
On 23 August 2021, Woodburn signed withScottish Premiership clubHeart of Midlothian on a season-long loan.[55]
In June 2022, it was announced by Liverpool that he would leave the club at the end of the month when his contract expired.[56]
On 4 July 2022, following the expiry of his Liverpool contract, Woodburn signed a one-year contract withChampionship sidePreston North End with an option for a further year.[57]
He scored on his debut in July 2022 against his former clubHearts in a 2–1 friendly win.
On 17 May 2024, the club announced he would be released in the summer when his contract expired.[58]
Until his senior international debut, Woodburn was eligible to represent both Wales, through his maternal grandfather, andEngland.[59] During his early teens he attended a training camp with theEngland schoolboys' team[broken anchor] and was later offered an under-16 call-up by England in August 2014. He rejected the call-up and chose to remain in the Wales setup at the time.[59][60] After his club debut with Liverpool in November 2016, it was reported that England remained hopeful of convincing Woodburn to switch his international allegiance despite previously being rebuffed. The possibility was ended in September the following year when he made his senior international debut for Wales in a competitive fixture.[61][62]
Woodburn has played forWales up to U19 level and was first called up to train at one of the nation's regional development centres atDragon Park when he was 13.[63] He played for Wales U15s in two games against Poland in March 2014, scored ahat-trick for theU16 side againstNorthern Ireland the following year and then captained theU17 team against Greece in 2016.[9][59][64] Later that year, he represented theU19 side in theirUEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification matches and scored abrace in a 6–2 win overLuxembourg.[65]
On 16 March 2017, Woodburn was called up by head coachChris Coleman to theWales senior team for the first time, aged 17, for the nation'sWorld Cup qualifier against theRepublic of Ireland.[4] He remained an unused substitute, however, as Wales played out a 0–0 draw inDublin.[66] He made his senior debut on 2 September, coming on as a second-half substitute forTom Lawrence and scoring a 25-yard strike in a 1–0 win againstAustria.[67][68] In doing so, he became Wales' second youngest goalscorer behindGareth Bale and kept the nation within reach of qualification. He then came off the bench to set up the winning goal in the next match, a 2-0 victory overMoldova.[69] Woodburn featured regularly from the bench towards the back end of the qualification campaign as Wales ultimately fell two points short of aplay-off spot.[70][71]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Liverpool | 2016–17[13] | Premier League | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 9 | 1 | |
| 2017–18[32] | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[40] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[73] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | ||
| Sheffield United (loan) | 2018–19[40] | Championship | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| Oxford United (loan) | 2019–20[74] | League One | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 16 | 1 |
| Blackpool (loan) | 2020–21[73] | League One | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Heart of Midlothian (loan) | 2021–22[75] | Scottish Premiership | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 3 |
| Preston North End | 2022–23 | Championship | 38 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 2 |
| 2023–24 | Championship | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | |
| Total | 58 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 120 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 140 | 8 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | 2017 | 6 | 1 |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 11 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 September 2017 | Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales | 1 |  Austria | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 20 March 2019 | Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales | 10 |  Trinidad and Tobago | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
Wales
Individual
