Biography
Experienced midfielder Ryan Woods joined Hull City in August 2022 to add guile and skill to Shota Arveladze’s side, and was quickly thrust into a debut performance off the bench against West Bromwich Albion when Ozan Tufan suffered an early injury. Woods drifted in and out of the City first eleven during the 2022/23 season but always gave good service, covering much ground with his shuffling gait and moving the ball well through the midfield engine room.
At the start of the 2023/24 season it was made clear that Woods was not part of manager Liam Rosenior’s first team plans and in August 2023 Ryan joined League One side Bristol Rovers on a season-long loan. After 16 appearances for The Gas and a change of manager in October 2023, Woods’ loan was terminated early and he returned to the Tigers in January 2024. A couple of weeks later Woods was heading back down the M5 motorway, joining League One side Exeter City for the remainder of the 2023/24 season where he made 14 appearances. Woods agreed a mutual termination of his Hull City contract in July 2024 and left the club.
Ryan Michael Woods hailed from Norton Canes in Staffordshire and grew up a few miles down the road at Pelsall. As a teenager he was involved with the academy at local side Walsall, the club he supported, but he was released at the age of 15 over concerns about his size and switched to Shrewsbury Town. Converting Ryan from a full back to a midfielder, the Shrews gained the benefit from Walsall’s development work and gave him his senior debut in an April 2012 League One match against Oldham Athletic. Woods was a first team regular for the subsequent 2012/13 season, playing at both full back and in the midfield as Shrewsbury slipped to relegation to League Two – Ryan scored his first senior goal in January 2013 against Milton Keynes Dons. Newly appointed manager Micky Mellon made Woods the cornerstone of his midfield and the Shrews powered to immediate promotion back to League One with Woods making 51 appearances in all senior comptetions and winning various Player of the Season awards.
Ryan began the 2015/16 season in the heart of the Shrews’ midfield and was appointed club captain but at the end of August 2015 a seven figure fee lured him to Championship side Brentford – Woods had scored one goal in 103 senior appearances for Shrewsbury Town. Brentford Head Coach Marinus Dijkhuizen moved on within weeks of Woods’ arrival and his replacement Lee Carsley put Ryan into the Bees starting eleven. When Carsley was himself replaced by Dean Smith two months later, who was lured to Brentford after a successful spell at Walsall, Woods retained his place and scored his first goal for the club in a December 2015 win against Reading. He continued to impress for two further seasons at Brentford and by August 2018 he was attracting the attention of several bigger clubs, having made 128 senior appearances and scored three goals.
At the end of August 2018 Woods transferred to Championship rivals Stoke City, initially on loan with a permanent transfer arranged for January 2019 – the fee was reputed to be £7 million. After a good start to the 2018/19 season under manager Gary Rowett, Ryan’s form dropped off in the closing months of the season and he was rarely used by the Potters. New manager Nathan Jones used Woods sporadically in the opening months of the 2019/20 season and in January 2020 he moved to Championship rivals Millwall on loan for the rest of the season, reuniting with manager Rowett. Woods returned to the The New Den on loan for the entire 2020/21 season and took his tally to 64 senior appearances for the Lions, on top of the 39 appearances he had made for Stoke City.
In June 2021 Woods left Stoke City and signed a three year contract at Championship side Birmingham City. He was a first team regular although Lee Bowyer criticised his defensive capabilities when dropping him later in the season and he ended his first season at St Andrews with 31 senior appearances. After starting the first two League fixtures of the 2022/23 season under new manager John Eustace, Woods was allowed to join Hull City in August 2022 to relieve pressure on the Blues’ wage bill.
In July 2024 Ryan returned to League One side Exeter City on a permanent deal.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 13 December 1993, Norton Canes
Hull City First Game: 20 August 2022, West Bromwich Albion A (Championship), 28 years, 250 days old
Hull City Final Game: 29 April 2023, Swansea City H (Championship), 29 years, 137 days old
Clubs
Shrewsbury Town (2009-2015), Brentford (2015-2019), Stoke City (2018-2019, loan), Stoke City (2019-2021), Millwall (2020,loan), Millwall (2020-2021, loan), Birmingham City (2021-2022), Hull City (2022-2024), Bristol Rovers (2023-2024, loan), Exeter City (2024, loan), Exeter City (2024-current)
Hull City Record
Career: 27 apps, 0 goals
Ryan Woods| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 14 (12) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2023/24 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |