Midfielder

Will was a promising youngster who progressed through the Suburban League side to make his senior debut in a Middlesex Senior Cup victory against Bedfont in November 2009, then scored the winner in his first Ryman appearance in March 2010.

Will moved to college in the United States in the summer 2010 - of which, more below. He returned to Woods for a short spell in 2014.

Young Will Hudson was named Northwood’s Most Promising Player in May 2010 having broken into the first team towards the end of the 2009/10 season following impressive displays in almost forty appearances for the reserves while still qualified for the Under 18s.

Will came up through the youth sides at the club, and his two goals for the first team in fourteen matches marked him as a real future prospect. He had scored the winning goal on his first Ryman League start against Harlow Town, but no sooner had he received his MPP award, he announced that he was off to college in the USA! Will is now 21 and has two more years to go on his college course in America but took time out to update us on his time across the pond so far.

“As a former player of Northwood FC and a product of the youth system, when asked to write a short piece of my time in America, I gladly accepted. When asked by the then assistant coach, Adam Reekie, who has since moved on, if I wanted to attend Canisius College in Buffalo, New York and play football, or “soccer”, for them, I jumped at the chance. Adam helped me apply to the college all the way to where I was going to stay and what classes I was going to take during my first term.

“For those of you who think football in the US would be a breeze, I can assure you it’s not. I learnt this from my first two weeks during pre-season, which were spent training three times a day, each training session as intense as the last. However, the hard work is definitely worth it, as when travelling to away games you get to see a lot of the US. This year our first two games were in LA against Cal State Northridge University and in San Diego against San Diego State University. I just recently got back from our end of season tournament which was held at Disney World, which was, as you can imagine, a lot of fun with all the lads. Unfortunately we were knocked out early in the tournament.

“The only downside is that the football seasons are very short, typically from late August to mid-November. But we keep on training throughout the year. Although I’d like to spend most of my time on the football pitch, classes are considered very important. To be able to play for the college, you must keep your grades up and attend all classes when not travelling with the team. I am currently in my second year at college and studying towards a marketing degree.”

December 2011