Life through a lens: Chris Wood

Chris with his older sister Chelsey 

We've always been a close-knit family. My sister, Chelsey, was my best friend growing up. She's 18 months older and was a big influence on me. I always looked up to her and still do. When I left New Zealand to come over to England as a teenager, it was a bit difficult, weird - she'd always been around, but then when I left we'd only see each other once a year. That was tough. I always looked up to her, and still do.

Chelsey and I played football together all the way up until we were 13, when we had to split into women's and men's teams. She played in the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups for New Zealand and she still plays local league-type stuff now. We've got a decent little sporting family but I don't know who the football genius we got the talent from was - my mum, Julie, will say it's her, but she's never kicked a ball in her life. My dad, Grant, was OK - he played locally, and we got our love for it going down to watch him play on Saturdays.

Mum had an English passport - she's from Lewisham - so she came over with me when I joined the scholarship programme at West Brom when I was 15. Dan Ashworth was actually their academy manager at the time, so it's come full circle now I'm here and working with him again at Newcastle. My sister was just transitioning into uni at that point so it would have been unfair for a parent to not be around if she ever needed anything, so dad stayed in New Zealand. It wasn't until Chelsey was settled a few years later that dad moved over here.

Wood with his parents Grant and Julie

My parents couldn't do enough for me growing up. They sacrificed their way of life, their jobs, even seeing their daughter at times to help me to chase my dream. I owe an awful lot to them all - the whole family sacrificed a lot. That photo was taken at the 2010 World Cup, when I was 18. They were fortunate to get over to South Africa to watch all my games and enjoy the experience.

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Wood in action for West Bromwich Albion in a Premier League game against Portsmouth in April 2009

This one is my Premier League debut. There's a story behind everything, isn't there? I'd been training with the first team for a few weeks and on the Friday afternoon, just after I'd finished, I was walking down the corridor and the manager, Tony Mowbray, came up to me and went, 'have you got your tracksuit?' I said no, I hadn't. 'Well, you better get home and get it because you're travelling with the first team down to Portsmouth'.

One of the sports scientists took me back to the house. Mum tells this story better than me. She says I ran into the house, ran upstairs, grabbed my tracksuit, and just ran straight back out the door shouting, 'bye, I'm travelling with the first team, see you later'. She's thinking, 'what? What's happening? Where's he gone?'

Dan Ashworth called mum and told her about it all, and asked her if she would like to go down to Portsmouth to watch the game. Mum went, 'oh, no, it's a bit far, I'm sure he's just going for experience'. But Dan went, 'no - I think you should go'. So she went down and met her brother Darren, who lives in Hastings, on the way. I came on with 20 minutes to go, playing against Sol Campbell, Younes Kaboul, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe - some really good players.

United faced West Brom at The Hawthorns on the opening day of the 2009/10 campaign, with Wood in the starting 11 for the hosts

And this one is my first start, against Newcastle! I think it was live on Sky, opening day of the season. Roberto Di Matteo was the new manager and throughout pre-season I'd been training with the first team, but I didn't think much of it. We met at the training ground, had our pre-match meal and then drove to the stadium. I was walking out and some of the first team lads were like, 'do you know you're starting?' No - I didn't know one bit. I played 70-odd minutes in the end. I was up against Fabricio Coloccini. I think we had a couple of good scuffles.

I ended up playing 20-odd games for West Brom that season but I still felt I was nowhere near being a fully-fledged footballer. I'd only trained with them for about four months in total, maybe not even that. I guessed Di Matteo maybe liked what I was about, or just wanted to keep me around for experience. We were tipped to go back up and we finished second in the Championship behind Newcastle that year. But back then, I still didn't think, 'this is going to be my career for the rest of my life' - I just thought it was one good season.

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Wood, who was born in Auckland, has been playing international football for New Zealand since he was a teenager

This was going over to South Africa for the Confederations Cup in 2009. I was 17 at the time. I'd made my debut for West Brom and then I got a call from Ricki Herbert, the New Zealand national team manager, saying he wanted to call me up.

The All Whites qualified for the 2010 World Cup after coming through a play-off against Bahrain

That's after the Bahrain game in Wellington when we qualified for the World Cup, and I'm with Simon Elliott. Simon was 35 or 36 at the time and I was 17 or 18. He always kept saying, 'I could be your dad, I'm double your age, what's the world coming to?' He was a great guy, a great player.

Wood takes on former Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic in 2010

This one is pre-World Cup, against Serbia and Nemanja Vidic. He was right at his peak. That was a mad game. They had crazy fans, they were throwing bottles on the pitch at one stage, because we were 1-0 up. I remember Vidic had to get on the microphone and tell them, 'calm down, relax, it's only a friendly!' But it was before the tournament and they had high expectations, so us being basically nobodies and going 1-0 up probably didn't help.

Wood, far right, and goalscorer Winston Reid, left, celebrate his last-minute equaliser in the All Whites' first game of the 2010 World Cup against Slovakia

And that's the famous goal of ours, the first major point for us, with Winnie scoring at the back post with a header. It sent us into absolute hysterics. It was crazy - one of the best days ever. Great memories. At this point in time, I'm 18. I'm thinking, 'I get this every four years - I get to go to a Confederations Cup, I get to go to a World Cup. International football is lovely. I ******* love it!' It wasn't until we missed out on the 2014 World Cup that I thought, 'OK, maybe it's a bit harder than I thought'. Then we missed out on the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and I realised that what we did back in 2010 was special.

That's why I've always wanted to get back there again and that's why I was gutted we missed out this year, because I've got unfinished business at the World Cup. I didn't get to appreciate it like I would do now. I didn't take it in like I should have, because I thought that's what would happen all the time.

Wood, watched by the great Fabio Cannavaro, flashes a shot across goal during New Zealand's group game against Italy

When you're young, at 17, 18, 19, you're so carefree. You don't think about things. That's why when you see youngsters coming on the scene, like Elliot (Anderson) at the moment, they're just so free. He's not thinking about his game, not worrying about anything, and he's playing some of his best football, smashing it in training. That was the same for me at that age - you're just playing football, you're not thinking, 'I need to do this' or 'I need to do that' - you're just playing. That's what I felt like at this point.

I was like that until I was about 21, when I got into the Leicester team. Then there were expectations starting to fall on me, and you have to deliver. Back then, at that age, you didn't have to. But when you're the striker at Leicester or Leeds or Burnley and you're the focal point, that's when pressure comes onto you and you have to learn to deal with it.

Italy were the world champions at this point. In that photo with Cannavaro, I'd got the ball on the edge of the box and flicked it round to the right. It came onto my left foot and I just put my shot past the post. That would have been unbelievable if I'd put it in. That was one of the best days - we were second in the group after drawing with them and going into the Paraguay game knowing if we beat them we would be through. We didn't, but we loved the whole tournament - we had a great group and we just made it so much fun.

About a week later, I flew out to Germany to watch two of Chelsey's games at the Under-20 World Cup in Germany. That's why my sister wasn't at my games in South Africa - because she was preparing for hers!

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Wood, third from right, with his family in November 2019

So here, you've got my mum's brother Darren on the right of her, my dad's brother Ian in the middle, and myself, my sister and her husband Ron. Pre-Covid, Chelsey and Ron would come over and spend Christmas here. They used to try and get over at least once a year for a month. Because of Covid, I hadn't seen her for three years - but she literally flew in two days ago, and I saw her yesterday! She brought my baby niece over - she's seven months old - and that was the first time I've met her.

Family is so important to us, and it's been a big miss without them. We have a Christmas day every year, even if Chelsey comes over in October, which might be weird or a bit different to everybody else, but it's just a symbolic day - whenever that may be - for us to all spend time together. We have a full Christmas dinner, presents, the lot, and just enjoy it. Darren's here at the start of September when Chesley goes back, so that'll be when our Christmas is this year. It's a quirky little thing but all families have them, and we like it.

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Golf is the main sport I play in my spare time. We've got a good golf crew here who all play together here at Newcastle. I'm not great - an 18 or 19 handicap - but I find it's a good break from football. It's something you can do and be carefree, and not have to worry about everyday life. That's why I love it.

This is after I got a hole in one at the Mere course near Manchester on the 14th or 15th, about a 160 yard hole. I was playing with my dad and my best mate at the time. I couldn't believe it. There was a lip at the front of the green so you couldn't see it drop, just that it was on line... 'that's close'. Then you get there. You can't see it but you don't want to go and check the hole - I'm not that good, I'm not that type of guy! But it was sitting in there and the three of us went mental. We captured the moment for posterity, framed the scorecard - I think my parents did for a Christmas present. Good fun.

Here, we try and play once a week or once every couple of weeks. I think everybody just enjoys the break from football, being able to relax. To switch off from the mental side of football is huge. You don't want it to be 24/7 because it can flood you. Being 24/7, for the coaching staff, is something they do, they live and breathe it, but for us as players you have to switch off. That's why I love being around family, friends and doing things that take your mind off it.

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Wood spent the second part of 2010/11 on loan at Brighton, who were seeking promotion from the third tier

I'd been on loan at Barnsley for the first few months of that season but it didn't work out. I wasn't playing, I wasn't getting on, I got dragged a couple of times. I was promised the world by the manager, who said, 'you'll play, you'll do this, you'll do that', but he never lived up to it. He never followed through with his promises. It made me learn that sometimes you can't trust what people say; you have to go off their actions. A nice learning curve.

I left Barnsley on the Wednesday and down to Brighton on the Thursday so I could train on the Friday and be involved at the weekend. I'd gone from the Championship to League One. They were top of the table at the time and I loved my time down there. Unbelievable players, friends - happy times. We played at the Withdean - not a great stadium, but it had character because of that. For away fans, it was terrible. But for home fans there was something about it which you could enjoy. It was so bad it was good. We went on to win the league, I scored nine goals, and it was fantastic to be a part of it. They moved to the Amex the year after and I went back to West Brom.

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After netting a memorable late winner for Birmingham City at Club Brugge in 2011

You haven't got photos of all the loan spells, have you? There would be too many!

I got a call during pre-season saying Birmingham wanted me on loan. They'd just dropped down from the Premier League after winning the Carling Cup, so they were in Europe and needed a few more players. They had Nikola Zigic up top, Marlon King and Adam Rooney too, so I was part of that front four competing with each other. I'm still trying to learn my trade here. I still thought that even if I have two or three good seasons I could still fade out of the game - 'if I don't continue to do what I can, I'll find myself out of the game quite quickly'.

This one is from Club Brugge away in the Europa League in the 100th minute. Pablo (Ibanez) went down with a head injury and there were ten minutes added on. We won it with a cross from Marlon King and I was lucky enough to tap it home. That's a former teammate of mine on the floor there - that's Ryan Donk, who I played with at West Brom. It was good to be a part of and it was mad - about 8,000 fans had travelled over and were behind that goal when I scored.

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Another productive loan spell, this time at Millwall in 2012

I remember my agent saying to me that he was taking me down to Millwall, and he said, 'this will either make you or break you as a footballer'. He didn't mean it in a bad way or even a literal way. But it was a case of, 'if you can deal with playing in front of these fans, you can play anywhere'. That's what it was about. I scored 11 in 19 there in the first half of the season and I loved it. It's a really passionate club. I think this is the goal against Leeds. Shane Lowry crossed to the back post for me to head in.

I loved living in London and everything about being at Millwall; I felt loved there. The team was doing well at the time and they wanted to sign me. They pushed hard for me and they offered more money than Leicester did, but at the time Leicester were close to getting promoted - they were second in the Championship, doing really well, and I would step into their team knowing that one day I'd be in the Premier League with them. At Millwall, we were having a great season, but there was no guarantee that they would eventually reach the Premier League. Ultimately, everyone wants to play at the top, but it was a hard decision to step away from Millwall and that's because I had such a good time there.

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Wood started for Leicester in the Championship play-off semi-final second leg at Watford in May 2013

This is the famous game in the play-offs. I started up front with David Nugent but came off after 65 minutes, and Harry Kane came on for me. We got a penalty in added time at the end of the second half. I was the penalty taker at the time but I'd come off. Nobody really stepped up for it - I think H did, but he was on loan at the time and hadn't really flowed as much as he would have liked. So Anthony Knockaert, a good player, stepped up, and unfortunately it went the way it did. We thought, 'if he scores, we're in the play-off final, and if he misses, we go to extra time'.

I was standing on the sideline watching the penalty, gutted he missed, but thinking it was still OK. Then you see the ball coming down the right. They're coming forward, then there's a cross into the box. You're thinking, 'oh, ****'. Troy Deeney puts it in. There's floods of people on the pitch, everywhere. It was horrible.

Wood celebrates promotion from the Championship with his Leicester teammates in 2014...

...and during the subsequent open-top bus tour through the City

In the end what happened at Watford was probably the best thing that could have happened to Leicester. The next season, we blew the league away. We smashed it. I think that top photo was taken at Andy King's house.

I scored my first Premier League goal against Everton on the first day of the following season, but I'd only played a handful of games by the end of 2014/15. I was sitting in the stand or on the bench most of it. I said to the manager that I wanted to get out so I could go and play consistent football. Never did I ever think that a year later Leicester would go on and win the league. If I'd known that, I would have stayed there, sat in the stand and enjoyed every part of it! It was unbelievable for my friends who were still there, but I had to go out and start my career over again.

I still had a place in Leicester at the time they won the title. Some of the players were still my close mates at the time so I was down there enjoying it with them a few days after they won it. They had a great time.

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Wood left Leicester for Leeds in 2015. His equaliser against Newcastle at St. James' Park, above, came during the forward's most prolific campaign to date

It was the most up-and-down time I had club-wise. In my first season at Leeds I scored 13 Championship goals but I was injured for bits of it. Come the end of the season, I was getting booed by the home fans. I got booed for about four months.

I came back, had a good pre-season and that year (in 2016/17) I was the Championship's top scorer and had a great time. I got 27 goals, or 30 in all competitions. In this game, you guys battered us. This goal was mad. I scored in the 90th minute and we thought that was us making sure we'd be in the play-offs. We ended up missing out because Fulham went on an unbelievable run and got in instead of us.

But I got my move to the Premier League, where I wanted to be, on the back of a great season and being involved in a great club. I loved life then, and I loved living in Leeds. But there were a lot of ups and down in a short space of time.

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Wood fields questions from the media ahead of the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia

As I progressed through my international career, I became vice-captain. Winston Reid couldn't make that Confederations Cup through injury so I stepped in to become captain. I was in the leadership group anyway, so stepping into that role was second nature to me. I felt myself being a leader on and off the pitch both for club and country, so it felt quite natural in that sense. You had the added pressure of having to deal with the media off the pitch, in good times and bad times, but that's just what you have to do as a captain. It takes a very strong character to do it. Jamaal (Lascelles) is fantastic here at the club.

In 2018, I was involved in the process which led to the agreement that meant New Zealand's men and women footballers would receive equal pay and working conditions. There was a big campaign for it and we, as a group, thought that the New Zealand boys could help push for the women's national team to be equal to all of us. It was the right thing to do and the way the world should be, so we put our backing behind them. Being one of the leaders in the team, I was at the forefront, but it was the whole group getting behind the Football Ferns that helped make it happen.

My sister obviously played football, and my girlfriend at the time was a footballer here in England. Women's football was a huge thing in my life, and it still is. It was something I thought was right, and so did the rest of the men's team when I brought them the proposal. I spoke with the NZPFA and the women's team and then brought it to the boys. I said, 'would you be open to backing this?' They all jumped on board, without hesitation.

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After a fine four-and-a-half years at Burnley, Wood joined Newcastle in January 2022

His first goal for the club came during a 2-1 win at Southampton in March

It was one of two goals he netted during the run-in to help lift the Magpies away from the relegation zone and into a comfortable mid-table spot

Of course, you're brought in to score goals and ultimately I would have loved to have scored more last season. But it wasn't ever about me coming in just to score a load - if I'd scored ten but we got relegated, it would still have been catastrophic for both me and the club. It was all about the team at this stage. It was about staying in the Premier League, working as a unit and club to push forward.

My role, when I spoke to the gaffer here, wasn't just about scoring goals. It was about incorporating the whole team together, bringing them further up the pitch, things like that. I'd like to think that everything other than goals was pretty damn good from me last season. I just needed to add more goals. I know I can score goals in this league - I back myself, I know the manager backs me, and I know the players back me. That's all that really matters. This was a great feeling to get the first goal - an unbelievable ball from Jonjo, and it was nice to be off the mark and flying.

What we achieved last season cannot go undervalued, especially the way we finished. We were fantastic. It was a sign of the whole group coming together - coaching staff and players, working extremely well together. That can never go under the radar. It's been a fantastic six months and now it's all about progressing as a club and as a team and seeing how far this club can go.

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Wood became his country's all-time leading goalscorer earlier this year. He currently has 33 goals to his name for the All Whites

It's fantastic. It's something I didn't think I'd ever achieve or do when I started playing football. I'm extremely proud of this and it was an amazing day for me and my family.

That's 33 goals I'm on now. I want to get to 50 so I've got loads more I want to achieve. We celebrated it at the time - we were in the middle of a World Cup qualifying campaign, but they got a cake for us all and then when I got back to England, we had a little family gathering which was really nice.

You still want more, though - you want to achieve more, score more, so it doesn't really sink in properly. Maybe later, when I finish my career, I'll be able to look back and think, 'yeah, I did achieve something spectacular'.