Richard Wood

Sheffield Wednesday

Born in Ossett, West Yorkshire, Wood was a Leeds United fan and had a season ticket at Leeds, however Wood came up through the ranks at Sheffield Wednesday and started to support The Owls instead. He broke into the senior side at the end of the 2002–03 season and capped his superb performance with a goal on his full debut against Burnley. The young Wood made such an impression that he was handed a two-year deal before he completed the second year of his Academy scholarship. He formed a partnership with Graham Coughlan in the centre of defence and has put in a series of strong displays. Wood staked his claim for a regular spot as he missed just one of the final 28 games as Wednesday clinched promotion to the Championship the previous season. He enjoyed a lengthy run in the 2005–06 season before an untimely injury cut short his season, which also deprived him of making an appearance for the Football League Select XI against an Italian Serie B representative side. He was rewarded by receiving the Rhodes Fairbanks Young player of the year award by fans of the club. On 3 March 2007, Wood returned from his injury to make his first start for Wednesday in 11 months in a 3–2 league win against Yorkshire rivals Leeds United at Elland Road. He would go on to start in the rest of Wednesday's 11 games that season and helped them to finish the season with just one loss from 13 games – a run which almost saw the side finish in the Championship play-offs. Prior…

While playing for Sheffield Wednesday, Wood received a call up from the England national under-21 football team however injury prevented him from meeting up with the squad.

On 20 May 2025, Wood returned to Rotherham United as first-team coach.

His younger brother, Nick Wood, played in the Sheffield Wednesday academy until the end of the 2009–10 season. He subsequently played a few games for Tranmere Rovers and Mansfield Town. He studied for a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting at Staffordshire University.