Bobby Woodruff

Bobby Woodruff
Personal information
Full nameRobert William Woodruff
Date of birth9 November 1940
Place of birthHighworth, England
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
Swindon Town
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1958–1964Swindon Town180(20)
1964–1966Wolves63(18)
1966–1969Crystal Palace125(48)
1969–1974Cardiff City150(22)
1974–1976Newport County52(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Robert William "Bobby" Woodruff (born 9 November 1940[1] in Highworth, Wiltshire) is an English former professional footballer.

Woodruff began his career at his hometown club Swindon Town where he broke into the first team at 18. He was a regular in the side before joining Wolves in 1964 for forty thousand pounds. During this time he gained a reputation as a long-throw specialist but eventually moved on two years later to Crystal Palace. He helped take Palace to division one but only played a handful of matches in the top flight before being allowed to leave and join Cardiff City[2] for twenty five thousand pounds. He was signed as a replacement for Barrie Jones. He scored six goals in six games when asked to play as a centre forward. He was released in 1974 and joined neighbours Newport County. He later finished his career playing in Welsh League football.[2]

After retiring he took positions as both youth coach and reserve team coach at Cardiff, also later working as a social worker.[3] Woodruff's son, Robert Woodruff, also played for Cardiff City, Swindon Town, Newport County and Cork City before having a successful career in Belgium. Robert scored the first league goal for Cork City FC in 1984.[2]

References

  1. http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/ForceFrames.htm?http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/Person.asp?PersonID=WOODRUFB
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mike Purkiss & Nigel Sands. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 94. ISBN 0907969542.
  3. "STFC's first-ever promotion" BBC Retrieved on 26 February 2008

External links