Former Preston North End defender's journey from India to Wales after leaving Deepdale

He spent a few months over the Pennines with Bradford City and then moved to Tranmere which was just a short commute from his Liverpool home.

The defender’s next move was right out of his comfort zone, with him signing for East Bengal in the Indian Super League.

They were managed by former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler, with Woods one of East Bengal’s six overseas players.

His Indian adventure ended earlier this year and now the 34-year-old is playing his football in the Welsh Premier League with Bala Town.

Playing part-time for the Lakesiders suits him down to the ground and has allowed him to move into coaching.

Woods coaches at Fleetwood Town’s academy, coaching their Under-13s.

He was with North End for four-and-a-half years, playing left-back in the 2015 League One play-off final which saw the club promoted back to the Championship.

The first season back in the second tier was his best in a PNE shirt, with him playing 35 games.

A terrible knee injury suffered in a pre-season friendly wiped-out the entire 2016/17 campaign for him and was the trigger to Woods eventually leaving Deepdale for pastures new.

“I damaged three ligaments in my knee in a friendly against Oldham,” said Woods.

“It meant a full knee reconstruction and I was out for a year. I knew that some people didn’t get back after injuries like mine but I got back.

“I was never 100% when I came back, I didn’t feel like I could turn as well as I did before the injury. A problem I then had was that I was picking-up lots of niggling injuries, it was hard to get a run of games.

“When I had six months left on my contract at Preston I decided I needed to go out and get games. I signed for Bradford but pulled my hamstring in the second game.

“The next summer I joined Tranmere, I got an injury there and then the season was halted when Covid arrived.”

Released by Tranmere, Woods took up the offer to go to India.

“I trained with a few clubs, Bolton and Hartlepool being a couple of them, then in November 2020 I went to India,” said Woods who started his career with Liverpool.

“Clubs there were allowed to have five foreign players in their team and I went over as a sixth in case one of them was injured.

“None of the five ever got injured so I didn’t get the chance to play.

“But I got to train every day, I did some coaching and it was a great experience.

“Robbie Fowler was manager, Tony Grant his No2. Anthony Pilkington, Danny Fox and Jacques Maghoma were three of lads who had played over here.

“Because of Covid, we all stayed together in a hotel, the only times we went out was to train and play matches.

“The first two weeks there I had to quarantine in my hotel room, three meals a day were brought up to me. I was there for three-and-a-half months and it was a great experience.

“It was tough at times, I was there last Christmas while my wife and three children were back home.

“I’ve got my UEFA B Licence so because I wasn’t getting a game, they got me doing some coaching which I enjoyed. Like over here last season, the games in India were played in empty stadiums.”

Back in the UK, it was in the summer that Woods signed for Bala.

Two of his early games for the Welsh side came in the Europa Conference League.

Woods said: “We played Larne from Northern Ireland but we lost both legs 1-0.

“We’ve got a good squad there, Anthony Kay used to be at Huddersfield with me, there’s Dave Edwards who played for Wolves and Wales.

“There are a few car schools go from Liverpool which helps with the travel.

“It’s in a nice part of the world and the standard of football in the Welsh League is a lot better than I thought it might be.

“Some of the games are quite far away, we sometimes go right down to South Wales.

“Playing part time has helped with my injuries, it is more manageable. We train once a week and then have programmes to do at home.”

It’s with fondness that Woods looks back on his time with PNE, signing in summer 2014 from Huddersfield.

“I’ve got good memories of Preston, they were a club who were great with me and I enjoyed my time,” said Woods.

“The knee injury was very unfortunate because the season before was probably the best of my career in terms of level of performance and the game time I got.

“Simon Grayson brought me to Preston and he was great to work for. I loved working with Alex Neil after that, I had a great relationship with both of them.

“Just before I just injured, I remember having a chat with Simon about the season ahead. He said I was going to the first-choice right-back.

“The care and attention I got coming back from the knee surgery was brilliant.

“Matt Jackson the physio spent a lot of time with me, Lewis Hiney was the assistant physio back then and he did lots of work. I got back playing and while not 100%, being on the pitch was massive.”

Coaching is now part of Woods' weekly programme, a career path he began in his PNE days.

Woods said: “I started doing my badges at Preston and even after I left I carried on here.

“There was a PFA course run by Neil Bailey at UCLan which John Welsh, Tom Clarke and Declan Rudd did.

“For the last five months I’ve been coaching in the academy at Fleetwood, I’m with the Under-13s.

“I coach in the evenings and then they play on a Sunday. That fits in with me playing at Bala.

“Our games are either on a Saturday or a Friday night, so I can commit to both.

“It’s a good set-up at Fleetwood and I’m enjoying the coaching work.”

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