| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vivian Woodward[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1914-05-25)25 May 1914 | ||
| Place of birth | Troed-y-rhiw, Wales | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward,wing half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1932–1933 | Troed-y-rhiw | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1933–1936 | Folkestone | ||
| 1936–1947 | Fulham | 95 | (26) |
| 1947–1948 | Millwall | 42 | (13) |
| 1948–1950 | Brentford | 20 | (1) |
| 1950–1951 | Aldershot | 53 | (5) |
| 1951–1954 | Bedford Town | 149 | (62) |
| Biggleswade Town | |||
| International career | |||
| Wales Schoolboys | |||
| 1941 | Wales (wartime) | 1 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Vivian Woodward was a Welsh professionalfootballer who played in theFootball League forFulham,Aldershot,Millwall andBrentford as aninside forward. He representedWales in awartime international match in 1941.
Aninside forward, Woodward played for hometown club Troed-y-rhiw as a youth and moved toSouthern League clubFolkestone in 1933 and departed in 1936.[2]
In January 1936,[1] Woodard earned a move to theFootball League withSecond Division clubFulham for a £300 fee.[3] During an 11-year spell atCraven Cottage, which was interrupted by theSecond World War, he made 95 appearances and scored 26 goals.[4] Woodward signed for Second Division strugglersMillwall in February 1947.[1] He scored seven goals in 15 league games to help the Lions stave off relegation to theThird Division South.[5] He was in and out of the team during the1947–48 season, making 27 appearances and scoring six goals.[6] He departed the club at the end of the campaign after Millwall's relegation was confirmed with a bottom-place finish in the Second Division.[3] Woodward made 42 appearances and scored 13 goals in just over a year with Millwall.[7]
Woodward moved back to West London to sign for Second Division clubBrentford in July 1948.[1] He began his time with the Bees as a regular in the team,[8] before being dropped for large part of the1948–49 season and not returning until the final month of the campaign.[9] He made just 10 appearances and scored one goal.[9] He failed to fare much better in the following season, scoring one goal in 10 games and eventually departingGriffin Park in February 1950.[8][9] Woodward signed for Third Division South strugglersAldershot in February 1950.[1] He quickly established himself in the team, making 16 league appearances before the end of the1949–50 season. He made 37 appearances during the1950–51 season (the highest of his career), but failed to inspire the Shots to more than an 18th-place finish. He left the club in May 1951, after making 53 league appearances and scoring five goals.[1]
Woodward dropped intonon-League football to sign for Southern League clubBedford Town in 1951.[10] Despite failing to enjoy much success in the league, he was a regular pick for the team and showed good goalscoring form, scoring 62 goals in 149 appearances for the club.[10] In 1954, he transferred toEastern Counties League clubBiggleswade Town in exchange for Percy Duggan.[10][11]
Woodward representedWales at schoolboy level.[8] He represented the senior team in a wartime international on 7 June 1941, scoring in a 3–2 defeat toEngland atNinian Park.[12]
During his time as a player with Bedford Town, Woodward also served as assistant manager and had acoaching spell atSouth Midlands League clubPotton United.[8][10]
One of Woodward's relatives,Laurence (nicknamed 'Dai'), was also a footballer and made over 270 appearances forBournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.[10] Woodward served as alorry driver in theRoyal Army Ordnance Corps during theSecond World War.[13]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Millwall | 1946–47[5] | Second Division | 15 | 7 | — | 15 | 7 | |
| 1947–48[6] | 27 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 6 | ||
| Total | 42 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 13 | ||
| Brentford | 1948–49[9] | Second Division | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| 1949–50[9] | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | ||
| Total | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 62 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 17 | ||