Chris Wood

Christopher Grant Wood (born 7 December 1991) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the New Zealand national team.

Wood started his senior career with Cambridge, Waikato and Hamilton Wanderers before moving to England to play for Premier League club West Bromwich Albion.

Wood began his senior career with Cambridge, scoring on his debut in the NRFL Division 2 in 2006 aged just 14, and after a spell at local rivals Hamilton Wanderers the following season in the NRFL Premier, he attracted the attention of ASB Premiership club Waikato.

Wood was recommended to West Bromwich Albion's Academy by coach Roger Wilkinson, who set up a trial for him.

He found a rich vein of goal scoring form for West Brom's youth academy side, leading to a call-up to the reserve team where he was just as prolific.

She represented New Zealand under 20s at the 2008 U20 Women's World Cup in Chile and the 2010 U20 Women's World Cup in Germany.

At the end of the 2008–09 season, Wood signed his first professional contract, of two years with a further two-year option in the club's favour.

Injuries to several West Brom players saw Wood handed a surprise call up to the first-team for a Premier League match against Portsmouth at Fratton Park in April 2009.

He came on as a substitute to become just the fifth New Zealander to play in the Premier League.

This was followed in December 2009 with a new three and a half-year deal, with West Brom having the option to extend that for a further year.

He scored his first professional goal for West Brom on 15 September 2009, a "stunning" 25-yard strike into the top left corner, in a 3–1 win over Doncaster Rovers.

He played for the team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and was part of the squad that won the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.

Wood was born in Auckland to Grant and Julie Wood; his mother is from England.

Wood began his footballing career at Onehunga Sports; after moving to Hamilton aged 11, he attended St Paul's Collegiate School.

He is the brother of Chelsey Wood, who is also an accomplished footballer.

Wood was sent out on a 93-day emergency loan to Barnsley on 24 September 2010.

The loan was terminated early by mutual consent after seven league appearances for the club without scoring.

Four days later, Wood scored in the 10th minute of stoppage time to defeat Club Brugge 2–1 in the Europa League group stage.

On 19 November, Wood signed for Brighton & Hove Albion on loan until January 2011.

He scored on his debut against Bristol Rovers but saw a penalty saved just days later against Southampton.

He added to his scoring tally in the 3–1 FA Cup win over Portsmouth, and scored twice against Peterborough United.

The day before the first match of the Championship season, Wood joined Birmingham City on a one-month loan.

He made his debut the following day, replacing Keith Fahey in the second half of a 2–1 defeat at Derby County.

Playing as the lone striker in Birmingham's first match in major European competition for nearly 50 years, the Europa League play-off round first leg against Portuguese club Nacional, Wood hit the frame of the goal twice.

The game finished goalless.

He scored his first goal for Birmingham in the second leg of the tie against Nacional.

On 11 September, Wood scored a hat-trick to lead Birmingham to victory over Millwall, followed by two goals against Nottingham Forest on 2 October to take his league total to seven goals from eight games.

After returning to West Bromwich Albion as an unused substitute in their third round FA Cup tie against Cardiff City, Wood joined Championship club Bristol City on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season.

He scored three goals during his loan spell with the club, his first goal coming on his home debut in a 2–1 win over Doncaster Rovers on 21 January.

His other two goals came in back to back matches, one against Nottingham Forest on 7 April, where it was the only goal of the game, and then two days later at home to Coventry City in a 3–1 win.

His loan was then extended for a second time, until 5 January 2012.

His eighth, to clinch a 2–0 win over Leicester City, came when Marlon King played a cross-field ball for Wood to run on to and, according to The Independent, "the composure he revealed to go past Kasper Schmeichel and slot the ball home from an angle was impressive".

His loan ended on 5 January 2012, after 29 games in all competitions from which he scored 11 goals.

On 17 September 2012, Wood completed a two-month loan deal to Championship side Millwall.

He made his Millwall debut as a substitute for Darius Henderson against Cardiff City, and on his first start, scored a consolation goal against his former club Brighton & Hove Albion.

He spent his time on loan to six different clubs before joining Leicester City in 2013.

On 18 November, Wood extended his loan until January 2013, and scored the winner against Leeds United on the same day.

After a loan spell with Ipswich Town in 2015, he signed for Championship club Leeds United where he became top scorer in the 2016–17 season.

Wood then joined Burnley for a club record fee, and became a consistent goalscorer for them in the Premier League, notching up 49 goals in 144 matches over four-and-a-half seasons.

Wood has been capped 74 times for the New Zealand national team and scored 34 goals, making him the all-time record leading goalscorer for his country.