When Woodgate finally hangs up his boots somewhere in the lower tiers of English football, there will only be one thing written on his career tombstone: it wont be how he scored the winning goal for Spurs in the Carling Cup final against Chelsea. It wont be how he marked Didier Drogba out of the game in a UEFA Cup semi-final tie. No, what everybody will remember about Woodgate is the nightmarish 24 months spent in Madrid. A very talented and capable centre-half, he would surely have added to his eight England appearances were it not for the injury curse that blighted his career. His tale in Spain is one of woe and misfortune: the former Newcastle stopper was typically injured when Real Madrid had a £13.4 million bid accepted in August 2004, although the Spanish club soon found out that the recovery period would take a while. Incredibly, it took the Middlesbrough native a year to shake off the nightmarish injury that had threatened to destroy his dream, and some 13 months after signing for the club, Woodgate finally made his debut, but as he will have known from his time in the North-East when it rains, it absolutely pours. The game turned into the debut from hell, as he scored an own goal before being sent off, albeit to a standing ovation from the sympathetic Bernabeu faithful. Having pulled on the famous white strip nine times for the club, he was voted the worst signing of the 21st century by a leading Spanish newspaper, Diario Marca. Which other English exiles should regret their forays into foreign leagues? Share your thoughts below.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
