Chris Wood (footballer born 1991)
Wood in the jersey of Brighton & Hove Albion (2011)
Christopher " Chris " Grant Wood (born 7 December 1991 in Auckland ) is a New Zealand soccer player.
Club career
Wood, who also has a British passport, in 2007 came to his performances at the U- 17 World Cup on trial at West Bromwich and was admitted to the academy in 2008. Previously, he had played in New Zealand for the Hamilton Wanderers in the Northern League and the Waikato FC in the New Zealand Football Championship, the top division of the country. For the youth team of Albion Wood distinguished himself as a regular scorer and was then in the reserve team to inserts. In April 2009 he was nominated by Tony Mowbray for the Premier League match against FC Portsmouth and came in the 75th minute by Substitutes as the fifth New Zealander ever in the British Elite League used. A short time later awarded him the New Zealand Association as Rookie of the Year in 2008, an honor he received again in 2009.
For the season 2009/10 Wood received a professional contract and came in second league season 2009/10 on a regular basis as a substitute for use. His first competitive goal he scored on 15 September in a 3-1 win against Doncaster Rovers at the end of the season as championship runner managed a return to the Premier League. There, Wood came early in the season hardly to train and therefore was initially awarded in September 2010 for two months to the second division FC Barnsley. Then followed a further loan to the third division side Brighton & Hove Albion, who originally planned to January 2011 trip was extended by six inserts to end of season. Wood scored for Brighton in 29 inserts eight goals and helped the club so that the title in the Football League One 2010/11 and the associated rise.
On August 5, 2011, he moved on loan to Birmingham City. After half a year there he was again awarded, this time to the second division Bristol City .. For the 2012/13 season he was loaned to FC Millwall.
In January 2013 he moved to Leicester City.
National
With the New Zealand U -17 Wood took part in the 2007 U- 17 World Cup in South Korea, left with his team after the group stage goals in 0:13. In May 2009, national coach Ricki Herbert Wood summoned surprising for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup for the first time in the senior team. After his debut in a pre-season friendly against Tanzania in early June, he came in the second group game against South Africa for use.
In October and November 2009 Wood was one of the two play-off games at the World Cup finals in 2010 against Bahrain to New Zealand squad. He was substituted in each case during the second half, when New Zealand qualified through a 1-0 win at home for the first time since 1982 for a World Cup. At the World Cup finals Ricki Herbert was playing in a 4 -3-3 system with three nominal points, but he preferred while Shane Smeltz, Chris Killen and Rory Fallon, Wood came in the three games against Slovakia, defending champion Italy and Paraguay each by a substitute is used, New Zealand retired after three draws unbeaten in the group stage.