Andrew Woodward (born 23 September 1973) is an English former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who played in the
English Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
for
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...
,
Bury,
Sheffield United,
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The club was formed in ...
(two loan spells) and
Halifax Town.
Later a serving police officer, dismissed for gross misconduct in November 2016, he shortly after revealed he had been a victim of child sexual abuse, writing a book about his experiences.
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
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
; he made eight further substitute appearances that season including in the
play-off final against
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...
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
Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...
at
Gresty Road
Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153.
History
C ...
.
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.
He scored his second league goal, for Halifax in a 2–2 draw against
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system.
They have played their ...
, on 29 March 2002. When Halifax went into
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people.
** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
in the summer of 2002, Woodward was sacked, and subsequently joined
Northwich Victoria
Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...
.
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
Later in November 2016, it was reported that Woodward had been a victim of repeated
child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...
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
A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
chairman
Greg Clarke
Gregory Allison Clarke (born 27 October 1957) is an English businessman and football administrator, who was chairman of The Football Association from 4 September 2016. He resigned on 10 November 2020 after making offensive comments while talkin ...
for 'humiliating' remarks Clarke made to a
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, formerly the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, is one of the Select committee (United Kingdom), select committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, es ...
hearing,
while the
Professional Footballers' Association
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales.
Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sports trade union, with approximately 5,000 current members each seaso ...
'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
In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a internet forum, forum, a chat room, an Multiplayer video game, online video game) or who performs similar be ...
' Woodward on social media.
In June 2019, shortly before publication of Andy Woodward's autobiography ''Position of Trust'', ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' 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 ''Guardians 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
The William Hill Sports Book of the Year is an annual British sports writing award sponsored by bookmaker William Hill. It was first presented in 1989, and was conceived by Graham Sharpe of William Hill, and John Gaustad, founder of the Sport ...
.
Woodward's story was dramatised in the 2022 television film
''Floodlights'', in which he is portrayed by
Gerard Kearns
Gerard Kearns (born 4 October 1984) is an English actor. He is best known for playing Ian Gallagher in the British version of the comedy-drama series ''Shameless (British TV series), Shameless''.
Career
Kearns starred in the film ''The Mark ...
and his younger self by Max Fletcher.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Andy
English men's footballers
Northwich Victoria F.C. players
Halifax Town A.F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Bury F.C. players
Crewe Alexandra F.C. players
English Football League players
1973 births
Living people
Men's association football defenders
Officers in English police forces
21st-century English memoirists
Footballers from Stockport