WOOD Chris

General
CLUB CAREER
He began his professional football career in New Zealand with Cambridge FC and Waikato FC before moving to England in July 2008 to join West Bromwich Albion following a successful trial. He spent time on loan at English clubs Barnsley, Brighton & Hove Albion, Birmingham City, Bristol City and Millwall from his parent club West Bromwich Albion between 2008 and 2013. He then moved to Leicester, Ipswich [loan] and Leeds United before joining Burnley in August 2017. "At [age] 16, 17, 18 I didn't know what I gave up. I was just moving [to West Bromwich Albion] to play football. My mum moved over with me. It was like still living at home because I had my mum's cooking, my mum's there when I've had a bad day to shout at and scream at. I took something from every one of those loans. I learned how to play men's football and stand on my own two feet. Millwall is where my career took off. I don't think I ever thought I'd finally made it until I was like 25, 26 when I thought, 'Yes, I'm gonna have a good long career here and I'm gonna hopefully see out my time until I'm 35 playing professional football'." (transfermarkt.co.uk, 23 May 2021; Sky Sports YouTube channel, 03 Apr 2020; thetimes.co.uk, 30 Oct 2020)

EQUAL PAY
He is an advocate for equal pay in men's and women's football and campaigned for the New Zealand women's national football team to receive the same pay as their male counterparts. In 2018 New Zealand Football [NZF] and the New Zealand Professional Footballers' Association [NZPFA] announced an agreement for equal pay for both the men's and women's national teams. "Women's football has been in my life for 15, 20 years, ever since Chels [his sister, and footballer] stepped into that side of the game. To me, it's very important. It's something where, until you open your eyes to it, you don't see it. I was fortunate enough, through my sister and through my ex, that they opened my eyes to women's football and what they need, what they miss out on, the struggles, the hardship. As a person in my position, especially back in New Zealand, I knew I could do something about it. I wanted to be involved. I wouldn't say it was easy to get them to where we are in the men's game, but they were very open to doing it. The female heads and captains pushed extremely hard, and a few of us lads on the side gave it the final push to get it over the line. Ultimately, finances are one of the hardest things [for female players]." (theathletic.com, 20 Oct 2020)

He became the first player from New Zealand to score a hat-trick in the Premier League in England. He achieved the feat during a match for Burnley against Wolverhampton Wanderers in April 2021. (OptaJoe Twitter profile, 25 Apr 2021)