4th February 1954

Islington, London

Goalkeeper

Goalkeeper Jeff Wood had played nearly 150 league games for Charlton Athletic before having a season with Exeter City in 1984/85 in between stints in Finland, Hong Kong and Malta. He later became a coach and had a spell managing the Gibraltar national team.

Jeff gained his Football League opportunity with Charlton Athletic who signed him from Harlow Town in November 1975. He enjoyed the best spell of his career at The Valley going on to make 147 league appearances, including 121 consecutively. He left the club at the end of the 1975/76 season and played in Denmark prior to signing for Colchester United in September 1981. Failing to make the first-team at Layer Road, Jeff moved to Helsinki HJK for whom he appeared in the European Cup in 1982/83. 

Signing for Exeter City in August 1984, Jeff went straight into the first-team making his debut against Northampton Town in the opening fixture of the season. He kept his place for a run of thirty-three games until the following March when Lee Smelt was signed on loan from Cardiff City. 

Leaving St James' Park shortly afterwards, Jeff went on to play in the European Cup for Maltese side Rabat Ajax before having a spell with Happy Valley in Hong Kong. Becoming a coach he worked in Gibraltar and America and was later part of the management team at Brighton and Hove Albion between 1996 and 1999. After managing in Malta he took charge of both Chesham United and St. Albans City and, by 2004,  was running Charlton Athletic’s European soccer school in Malaga. After a later spell as goalkeeping coach at Norwich City, Jeff was manager of the Gibraltar national side between 2015 and 2018.

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