Andy Woodward

Football career

Woodward signed his first professional contract with Crewe in July 1992, and made his first team debut on 17 April 1993, coming on as a substitute in a Third Division match at Walsall; he made eight further substitute appearances that season including in the play-off final against York City at Wembley on 5 May 1993. He made his first of 11 starts for Crewe on 17 August 1993, playing in a League Cup tie against Wrexham at Gresty Road. He made 14 appearances for Crewe during their promotion-winning 1993–94 campaign, but then made only two further substitute appearances for the Railwaymen.

He joined Bury on 13 March 1995 and played for the Lancashire club 135 times in five years. He scored his first league goal on 26 December 1998 against his former club, Crewe, in a 3–1 defeat at Gresty Road. He was then signed by Sheffield United in March 2000. He played only four games for the Blades, and had two loan spells at Scunthorpe, before joining Halifax Town in the summer of 2001.

Police career

Andrew Woodward joined the Lancashire police force after retiring from football, eventually leaving the force in November 2016. He was dismissed for gross misconduct following an inappropriate relationship with a family member of a victim.

Victim of sexual abuse

Main article: United Kingdom football sexual abuse scandal

Later in November 2016, it was reported that Woodward had been a victim of repeated child sexual abuse by Barry Bennell (later convicted for sexual abuse) while a trainee at Crewe Alexandra in the 1980s. Woodward later claimed "People should know I suffered more than one abuser".

In Manchester on 5 December 2016, Woodward was one of five abuse victims at the launch of an organisation, the Offside Trust, to support player victims of abuse and their families. Initially a director of the Trust, Woodward resigned on 27 January 2017.

In October 2017, Woodward criticised Football Association chairman Greg Clarke for 'humiliating' remarks Clarke made to a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing, while the Professional Footballers' Association's chief executive Gordon Taylor said the PFA might sue Clarke over suggestions Taylor had not supported Woodward with further counselling.

In December 2017, two men from Crewe were jailed for 'trolling' Woodward on social media.

In June 2019, shortly before publication of Andy Woodward's autobiography Position of Trust, The Guardian reported that Barry Bennell's cousin, Ronald Bennell, had been jailed in 1971 for the rape and murder of Woodward's aunt, Lynda Stewart, and that Barry Bennell had married Woodward's older sister, also named Lynda, in 1991. The *Guardian'''s coverage also said Woodward unsuccessfully sued Crewe for damages in 2004. Woodward's book was shortlisted for the 2019 William Hill Sports Book of the Year. Woodward's story was dramatised in the 2022 television film *Floodlights'', in which he is portrayed by Gerard Kearns and his younger self by Max Fletcher.

References

References

1. "Andy Woodward - Football Stats - No Club - Age 43 - 1992-2003 - Soccer Base".
2. (1998). "Crewe Alexandra Match by Match". Tony Brown.
3. {{Soccerbase season. 8689. 1998
4. (30 August 2002). "Accused Woodward talks peace with angry Halifax". Daily Telegraph.
5. (16 November 2016). "Andy Woodward: 'It was the softer, weaker boys he targeted'". The Guardian.
6. (17 November 2016). "Associate of Barry Bennell also preyed on boys, two former footballers reveal". The Guardian.
7. (17 November 2016). "Former footballer Andy Woodward tells of sexual abuse". BBC News.
8. (19 November 2016). "Andy Woodward showed great courage – but is his story just the tip of the iceberg?". The Observer.
9. (21 December 2016). "Andy Woodward says police interview delay over abuse claims is 'shocking'". BBC.
10. (3 December 2016). "Southampton 'abuser' still working in football". BBC News.
11. (5 December 2016). "Sex abuse footballers 'want to be free of pain'". BBC.
12. "The Offside Trust: Officers".
13. (3 February 2017). "Andy Woodward leaves Offside Trust but campaign gains momentum". Eurosport.
14. (25 October 2017). "Greg Clarke under fire again as abuse survivor Andy Woodward accuses FA chairman of 'humiliating' him". Telegraph.
15. (26 October 2017). "Woodward 'devastated & deeply upset'". BBC.
16. (26 October 2017). "PFA's Gordon Taylor considering legal action against FA chairman Greg Clarke". Guardian.
17. (15 December 2017). "Teenager jailed for trolling footballer Andy Woodward about abuse". The Guardian.
18. (4 June 2019). "Andy Woodward: a 1970s murder and the shocking twist to my Barry Bennell story". Guardian.
19. (4 June 2019). "Andy Woodward extract: 'Telling my story stopped a young guy ending his life'". Guardian.
20. (5 December 2019). "Hamilton becomes first three-time William Hill Sports Book of the Year winner". The Bookseller.
21. (17 May 2022). "Floodlights cast: Who stars in the Barry Bennell drama, what time it's on BBC2 and the true story it explores". [[i (British newspaper).