Harry Woods was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

.

Born in St Helens

St Helens, Merseyside

St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...

, Woods started out with his hometown club, non-league

Non-league football

Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...

 St Helens Town

St Helens Town F.C.

St Helens Town A.F.C. are an English football club based in St Helens. The club are currently members of the Premier Division of the North West Counties League and play their home matches at Ashton Town's Edge Green Street.-History:...

, before joining Norwich City

Norwich City F.C.

Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

 (then playing in the Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

) in 1912. World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 broke out just as Woods' career started to take off; after serving in the Tank Corps

Royal Tank Regiment

The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...

 in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, he returned to England to join Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 side South Shields

South Shields F.C.

South Shields F.C. are a football club based in South Shields, England. They have a long and complicated history, with three distinct incarnations taking the name...

 in 1919. Woods' performances for them, as a prolific centre-forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

, brought the attention of nearby giants Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

, and he joined the Magpies in January 1922 for the (then) enormous sum of £2,600.

However, Woods failed to make the grade at Newcastle, playing only sixteen times in eighteen months, and was eventually sold to Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 for the much lower fee of £750 in July 1923. Woods made his debut against his old club Newcastle on August 25, 1923 and soon became a regular, if not totally prolific goalscorer for Arsenal. He finished as the club's top goalscorer in his first season (1923-24

1923-24 in English football

The 1923–24 season was the 49th season of competitive football in England.-Events:*On 11 November 1923, Aston Villa centre-half Tommy Ball was shot dead by his neighbour, thus becoming the only Football League player to have been murdered.-Honours:...

) with ten, and then managing another twelve goals in 1924-25

1924-25 in English football

The 1924–25 season was the 50th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

, although by now he was being eclipsed by the newly-signed Jimmy Brain

Jimmy Brain

James "Jimmy" Brain was an English football player.Born in Bristol, Brain started his career playing in Wales, having an unsuccessful trial at Cardiff City, before gaining a regular place at Ton Pentre. In 1923, he moved to Arsenal, and in his eight years with the Gunners became one of the club's...

. After Herbert Chapman

Herbert Chapman

Herbert Chapman was an English association football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most successful and influential managers in early 20th century English football, before his sudden death in 1934.As a player, Chapman played for...

 took over that summer, Woods found himself out of the first team, and after a fruitless 1925-26

1925-26 in English football

The 1925–26 season was the 51st season of competitive football in England. This marked the year that Huddersfield Town won the League three years running, making them the first team in Football League history to do so.-Honours:-First Division:...

 he left the club in August 1926 for Luton Town

Luton Town F.C.

Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...

. In all he played 75 games for Arsenal, scoring 22 goals.

Woods spent four years at Luton before returning to the North to finish his playing days at North Shields

North Shields F.C.

North Shields F.C. are a football club based in North Shields, England. They reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup twice in their history – in 1933–34 and 1982–83. Currently they are members of the Northern League Division Two...

. His fate after that is unknown.