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Neil Anthony Wood (born 4 January 1983) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of club Salford City.
As a player, Wood played as a midfielder. He began his playing career in the academy of Manchester United, though he never appeared for the first team due to several injuries. He was sent out on loan several times, first to Belgian club Royal Antwerp where he made his professional début in 2001, and later to Peterborough United and Burnley, before departing the club in 2004 for Coventry City. Wood struggled for regular appearances and after 18 months was loaned to Blackpool, who signed him permanently shortly after. Wood then moved first to Oldham Athletic and then to Bosnian team Željezničar. He returned to England in 2009, spending time with amateur side Atherstone Town before retiring in 2010.
Upon his retirement Wood began coaching, beginning with Aston Villa in their academy before moving back to United, where he rose through the ranks to become U23 manager in 2019. After three years in the role, Wood was appointed manager of Salford City, his first role in senior football. In 2023, Wood was sacked by Salford with the club 21st in the league.
In December 2001, Wood was loaned out to Belgian club Royal Antwerp of the First Division alongside teammate Alan Tate, and to Peterborough United of the Football League Second Division on a one-month loan in September 2003, rejecting a move to Third Division team Swansea City in the process; neither loan proved to be successful for Wood. During his time at Peterborough, he scored his first goal in English football, scoring in a 2–1 defeat against Colchester United, described by BBC Sport as "a stunning 25-yard free kick".
In January 2004, he was loaned out to First Division team Burnley, who were struggling in the season, and which was then extended the following month for a further two months; manager Stan Ternent expressed his gratitude to United manager Alex Ferguson for allowing Wood to remain with the club. During his time at Burnley, he scored once against Norwich City in a 5–3 defeat, opening the scoring at Turf Moor with a free-kick from just outside the penalty area. In April, he admitted to the Lancashire Telegraph that he had struggled to adapt to the style of football in the lower leagues, but played through a knee injury to try and keep Burnley in the division.
Later in the same year, he again moved club, signing a two-year contract with Oldham Athletic following a successful trial period. Upon signing, he criticised Blackpool for offering him a new deal only after pre-season had begun, as well as saying their contract offer was "rubbish". After several appearances, Wood suffered a season-ending knee injury in training, requiring surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament. The injury led to his release from the team. Remembering his experience of lower league football in a 2019 interview with The Athletic, he said that he struggled to adapt and was "sick of the style of player. I wanted to get out", while in a 2020 interview with the same publication, he recalled how Oldham manager John Sheridan had told him that he was "too good to play in a three but couldn't play in a central two", as Sheridan didn't want him to "get on the ball and play", one of his primary attributes, leaving him disillusioned with English football.
Following his release from Željezničar, Wood returned to England and settled down in the Tamworth area, where he began training with Southern Football League Division One Central side Atherstone Town. In December, Wood signed a deal with the club and was awaiting international clearance before he could make an appearance. After several attempts made to contact Željezničar failed, in January 2010 Wood and the club turned to FIFA for assistance with the matter. In November of that year and having made his debut, Wood scored an equalising goal in a 1–1 draw against Rugby Town.
At the beginning of the 2023–24 season, Salford and Wood endured five league defeats in a row, a record for the club since promotion to the EFL in 2019. On 27 December 2023, Wood was sacked by Salford following a 5–1 home defeat to Tranmere Rovers the previous day, which extended their winless run in the league to eight games and left Salford in 21st place in League Two. Wood was replaced by Karl Robinson.
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| Salford City | 20 May 2022 | 27 December 2023 |
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