Talking to a Trickster

It's not often Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho are likely to be jealous of the talents of their peers, but they haven't met the UK finest - Woody.

From an early age it was obvious that Paul ‘Woody’ Wood was talented with a football at his feet. He always dreamed of playing professional football like his idol Diego Maradona and knew that to get there he was going to have to hone his skills.

As a kid, Woody didn’t always have a football to hand and so spent his time practising his tricks with oranges as he watched videos of Maradona.

The hard work paid off as Woody played for Wimbledon and Watford in his early days but an unfortunate injury ended his playing days prematurely.

Fortunately he had built up a back catalogue of tricks that would later see him succeed as one of the World’s Best freestylers.

“I fell into freestyle to be honest, I played for Wimbledon then Watford and got a bad injury which stopped me from playing. I entered the Nike freestyle competition at Earls Court in 2003 and got to the semi finals out of 32,000 tricksters and realised all the hours I spent practising kick ups for my ball control in the garden could be used for something else!”

From here one job became two, two became three and eventually Woody was on the books of a number of agencies who were looking to get him work. It was only a matter of time before he had his own personal agent and website.

“Before I knew it the bar just kept on rising on to bigger things.”

Woody has got a mouth watering portfolio including being UEFA’s official skill expert, performing in adverts for Nike, appearing on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. However his biggest achievement to date was documentary film ‘In the Hands of the Gods’ which was released in around 100 cinemas nationwide including a Leicester Square premier as well as a screening at the Cannes film festival.

“It was an idea I came up with. Basically I wanted to do it to prove to the world what you can achieve with just a talent and a dream. Our talent was football freestyle and our dream was Diego. We were prepared to put our talent to the test and busk our way for food, accommodation and travel to Argentina to show what can be achieved starting with absolutely nothing!”

(Woody - centre - with Hands of the Gods cast)

The documentary followed Woody and fellow freestylers Sami Hall, Danny Robinson, Jeremy Lynch and Mikey Fisher as they journeyed across North and Central America before reaching South America and eventually Argentina in the hope of meeting their hero, Diego Maradona. For them, Maradona epitomised everything they love about football; the creator of their art and their inspiration during hard times in their lives. The feature was described as ‘a voyage of adventure and self-discovery that will take these boys far from their homes, on a trip that will change their lives forever.’

“It was an amazing experience; I loved the raw country of Guatemala and the contrast of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro"

Since then Woody has continued to go from strength to strength but staying at the top doesn’t come easy though and the talented trickster admits he keeps up a regular training schedule.

“Some weeks I train one hour a day, five days a week. Other weeks I’ll train two to three hours a day, three to four days a week. I definitely needed a bit of natural talent to get me started but, like anything in life, hard work is what it took to get to the top of my game! So practice, practice, practice is honestly the key!”

Of the many tricks in his armoury, Woody will always have his favourite and it is one he has created himself: ‘It’s called the Woody! It’s my signature move so I had to name it after me.’

The Woody requires the freestyler to catch the ball between the bum and heel then roll the ball over the head to carry on performing.
“I first used it for a Sky advert for the Copa America many years back and it went down well.”

This was one of Woody’s first TV appearances, where the freestyler – in Argentina colours – takes part in a freestyle battle with opposing South American nations.


“The ad was great fun and probably the start of what I saw as big things to come. We got a lot of exposure from that advert and it all came around from us being casted in house at the Sky head quarters.”

It isn’t the only time Woody has graced Sky television however, also appearing on Sky One football drama Dream Team where he took shots at goalkeeper Jamie Parker and came on as substitute in a Harchester United game. He also appeared on Soccer AM, with his fellow ‘Hands of the Gods’ team to promote the film and show off some skills.

As an Arsenal fan, Woody will always appreciate flair footballers and this was evident when he I asked him to name his favourites to watch.
“I love players with great technical ability and good awareness like Cesc Fabregas, [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo. They are always my favourites to watch!”



After a number of exciting years for Woody he is now more settled. After completing a three year traineeship with Arsenal Football Club, Woody created his own skills school, which he now runs: ‘Woody’s Football Freestyle Academy.’
“It’s great to run. I do it mostly because I provide something that I didn't have the chance to be a part of when I was a kid. I suppose it’s my way of giving a bit back.”

It would be wrong to talk to someone so in tune with the footballing world without getting his opinion on the showpiece that is gracing television screens across the world right now. World Cup 2010. However, the football mad freestyler has not been able to watch as much as he would have wanted.
“The World Cup it probably the busiest time for a freestyle footballer, everyone wants a piece of you as everything is football themed. I'm looking forward to it, but I hope I manage to see a bit of it as I work most games!”
Woody is keeping patriotic but think’s his idol might hold the key to World Cup glory. “I hope England can go all the way but in all honesty I’ve got a funny feeling about Maradona’s Argentina and also Spain.”