John Woods

John Woods... moved to Canada in 1957 (first to Winnipeg, then to Vancouver)...

represented Canada on the four-week tour to the Soviet Union and United Kingdom in 1960 with Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team...

with Westminster Royals FC, a Canada Soccer Football Championship winner (Carling’s Red Cap Trophy and Challenge Trophy in 1960)... a six-time all-star selection over a seven-year span from 1959 to 1965 (including an All Canada selection in 1960)...

as noted in a 1959 all-star program, “he is an important cog in Labatt’s team”... wrote Jeff Cross after the 1960 Canadian final on 22 October, Woods “was the individual star, scoring two goals. Together with veteran inside left Gogie Stewart, Woods controlled and directed midfield play throughout the game”... as noted in 1963, “Woods` most impressive attribute is his natural field generalship“... as noted in a 1964 all-star program, he was “one of the best playmakers in Pacific Coast League”... as noted in 1965 all-star program, “has great ball control and equally great anticipation and has had tremendous influence on many youngsters on North Shore”...

said Neil Ellett in 2018, “John Woods was a class act on our team. He could control the midfield and spread the ball around”...

remembered teammate Neil Ellett in 2018 of the Gogie Stewart-John Woods fight on 15 May 1965, “I was probably standing 15-20 feet away when it happened. It was (sparked) from the year before when John supposedly did something to Gogie that pissed him off. Gogie waited for his time for the next season... when they came together in the challenge, Gogie just went left, right, left to John’s jaw and before John even hit the ground he was out cold. It was brutal”... also remembered Ellett, “it was right around midfield, maybe the halfway line, maybe 10 or 20 yards out from the touchline. They just came together and for Gogie this was the time he was going to get him. I’ve never seen it, he threw three punches and hit the guy so square and so quick before he even hit the ground. I am glad I didn’t go and try to intervene”...