Technical acquires Wooddin

Press, 30 January 1986, Page 36

Technical acquires Wooddin

Technical’s ambitions of a place at or near the top of the Hertz Soccer League this year have received a solid boost with the acquisition of the former international player, Steve Wooddin. Now aged 31, Wooddin has joined Technical from Christchurch United. He was restricted to just a handful of games in United’s reserve team last year due to a troublesome ankle injury. Those problems now behind him, Wooddin, one of New Zealand’s World Cup heroes

of 1982, is keen for a full season. He believes he could still hold a Rothmans League place with United, but his reasons for stepping down to the less arduous southern league have nothing to do with soccer. His wife, Sue, had the couple’s third child a fortnight ago, and southern league soccer will enable him to spend more time with his family. “I’ve probably been a bit selfish over the years, and I didn’t want to go

through the travelling and time involved in national league. In Christchurch, I can play on Saturdays and have more time at home,” he said yesterday. “It hasn’t got to the stage of whether I’m good enough for national league; I still think I am, but the travel started to wear me down,” he added. Wooddin believes his national league days are behind him. “I’d be very surprised if I wanted io go back in.” ’ Wooddin joins other

former United players such as Andrew Rutledge, Keith Gould and the coach, John Ellis, at Technical, which he described as having "a good little set-up, a friendly atmosphere.” While he has lowered his sights from the heady days of the early 1980 s, Wooddin feels there is no reason why he can not continue playing for at least another three years, “providing I keep in fairly good shape.”