David Woodfield (11 October 1943 – 1 May 2025) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. He played as a central defender, making over 250 appearances for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

during the 1960s, before concluding his playing career at

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. Following retirement, Woodfield embarked on a coaching career that spanned several decades and continents, including a stint as

Saudi Arabia national football team The Saudi Arabia national football team (SAFF) () represents Saudi Arabia in men's international Association football, football. They are known as ''Al-Suqour Al-Arabiyyah'' (Arabian Falcons) and sometimes ''Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur'' (The Green Fa ...

manager.

Playing career

Born in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

, Woodfield joined

in 1959, making his senior debut in 1962, and making 276 appearances for the club in all competitions before being sold to

in 1971. During his time with Wolverhampton, he spent time at

Los Angeles Wolves The Los Angeles Wolves were an American professional Association football, soccer team that played for two seasons. In 1967 they played in the United Soccer Association, finishing as champions, and in 1968 North American Soccer League season, ...

in the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association (USA) was a professional association football, soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League ( ...

. At Watford he made a further 15 league appearances.

Coaching career

Woodfield retired due to injury, and became a coach at Watford. He then spent time as a coach under Qatar manager

Frank Wignall Frank Wignall (born 21 August 1939) is an English former footballer who played professionally for Everton, Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Derby County and Mansfield Town, as well as at international level with England. He later bec ...

. In 1976, he worked with Saudi Arabia manager Bill McGarry. He later joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

as a coach, again under McGarry. Woodfield returned to Saudi Arabia to manage the national team at the 5th Arabian Gulf Cup in 1979, where they finished third. He then spent his career abroad until 2011, primarily in Asia, working in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil and Finland.

Death

Woodfield died on 1 May 2025, at the age of 81.

References

1943 births 2025 deaths Footballers from Leamington Spa English men's footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Los Angeles Wolves players Watford F.C. players English Football League players United Soccer Association players Men's association football defenders English football managers Newcastle United F.C. non-playing staff Watford F.C. non-playing staff Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) managers {{England-footy-defender-1940s-stub