As the 2015/16 season came to an exciting climax there was a significant achievement at Ossett Town by Nick Wood, the clubs longest serving player, as he made his 100th appearance in the home game with Bamber Bridge. A game he will remember for all the wrong reasons as he was forced to leave the pitch after only a few minutes with a broken nose!

Chairman James Rogers says “Nick has been one of our most consistent and committed players over the last three years and it was great to see him get his 100th game with us last season. These days players are highly mobile and many move clubs regularly so I’d like to personally thank Nick for his loyalty to Ossett Town”.

Woody joined the club in the summer of 2014, the towering centre half opened his goal scoring account on debut against Ramsbottom United and played a key role alongside Captain Ryan Qualter in the first half of the season and after he moved onto Bradford Park Avenue formed one of the best partnerships in the division alongside Shaun Connor as the side finished an impressive eigth place in the Evo-Stik League.

Woody remained in the side throughout the 20 months John Reed was in charge and continued to perform to a high standard despite never having a regular partner alongside him, often having to talk young and inexperienced players through games, something he excelled at and was often given the captains armband when required.

Wood's captain for many of the 100 games, and the only other recent member of the 100 Club here is the clubs former left back, Steven Jeff "I always felt more confident playing when Woody was in the back four. He is a strong presence and a natural leader. I knew I could trust him when playing next to him... even though he never let me get forward much!"

Wood as played under four managers at Ossett Town and has been a key player for each of them, last season was disrupted due to work commitments and injuries but he continued to put in consistent performances whenever he was available.

Wood returned briefly wearing a mask as last season drew to a close but the injury ultimately ended his season leaving him on 101 games for the club and three goals.

Grant Black is full of praise for Nick Wood, saying “I’ve not had a long time with him but he has been a pleasure to work with and I straight away realised he is a leader and a great player to have around to use his experience with the younger players. Woody has a great attitude and a quality centre half who deserves all the plaudits of reaching 100 games, it sums him up as a person as not many players stay at one club these days”.

A selection of photo’s of Nick Wood in action can be found here, all of Mark Gledhill’s Ossett Town photographs can be found here.