Vic Woodley
From TheChels.info - The Chelsea Football Club Wiki
| Vic Woodley | |
| |
| Full Name | Victor Robert Woodley |
| Date of Birth | 26 February 1910 |
| Place of Birth | Cippenham, Slough |
| Position | Goalkeeper |
| Chelsea career | 1931-1945 |
| Debut | 29 August 1931 |
| Games (goals) | 272 (0) |
| Other clubs | Windsor and Eton Bath City Derby County |
Victor Robert Woodley (26 February 1910 – 23 October 1978) was an England international goalkeeper who played for Chelsea between 1931 and 1945. One of Chelsea's all time greatest goalkeepers, Woodley's sequence of nineteen England caps in succession was only terminated by the outbreak of the Second World War, a run in which he kept seven clean sheets.
Contents |
Before Chelsea
At school, the young Vic was not particularly interested in football, however, when he left he was persuaded to help out between the sticks for his village team in Wiltshire. Signed on amateur terms by Reading he played one emergency game for their reserve side before being spotted for Chelsea while playing for Windsor and was signed on professional terms in the summer of 1931.
Chelsea career
Within weeks of his arrival at Stamford Bridge, he was pitchforked straight into the First Division due to an injury to first choice Sam Millington and he became a permanent fixture between the posts for the next fifteen years, despite competition from Johnny Jackson, Scotland's international goalkeeper. It was Woodley's consistency and safe handling that kept Chelsea in the First Division during difficult seasons for the club in the 1930s. He played a further 109 wartime games including a League South Cup Final against Charlton Athletic at Wembley in 1944, before apparently retiring from the top flight to Bath City.
After Chelsea
However in the early months of 1946, Derby County found themselves in need of an experienced goalkeeper and recruited Woodley to fill that gap. Within weeks he had crowned his career with an FA Cup winners medal, when the Rams beat Charlton Athletic at Wembley, before returning to play in the Southern League.
Statistics
| Season | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 1931-32 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 1932-33 | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| 1933-34 | 36 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| 1934-35 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 1935-36 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| 1936-37 | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| 1937-38 | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| 1938-39 | 39 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| Total | 252 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 272 | 0 |
