Michael Woods

Chelsea

Born in York, Woods turned down a scholarship from Leeds United to sign for Chelsea. Leeds United chairman Ken Bates accused Chelsea of tapping-up the sixteen-year-old as well as two other academy players. Eventually the two clubs later agreed an out-of-court settlement, with Chelsea paying £5 million in compensation for Woods and Tom Taiwo. After spending time in the reserves, Woods made his first-team debut for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge against Macclesfield Town in the third round of the FA Cup on 6 January 2007, making him the fourth-youngest player to ever play for Chelsea at 16 years and 275 days old. He made two appearances for Chelsea in the FA Cup, making his debut as a substitute for Ashley Cole against Macclesfield Town and in the next round coming on for Frank Lampard against Nottingham Forest, but did not play in the Premier League. Although his progress was interrupted by a series of injuries, he was ever-present in the reserves. Woods was released by Chelsea at the end of the 2010–11 season. On 1 November 2010, Woods joined Notts County on loan until January. He made his debut in the second round of the FA Cup, in County's 3–1 win over AFC Bournemouth.

Yeovil Town

Woods went on a trial spell with Aberdeen in July 2011. On 23 February 2012, following a short trial period Woods signed for Yeovil Town on non-contract terms, with Gary Johnson stating that he was very impressed with his attitude. On 29 February 2012, Woods played his first…

Woods has been capped several times for the English national under-17 team. He is an England Under-18 international and played in the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In the summer of 2009, he was called up for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt.

As of end of the 2025-26 season

He is the nephew of Neil Woods and his grandfather is former footballer Alan Woods.