Nathan Wood (footballer)
Nathan Dean Joshua Wood-Gordon (born 31 May 2002), known professionally as Nathan Wood, is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL Championship club Middlesbrough. Early life. Wood is the son of former Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough player Dean Gordon. He came from an athletic background, having taken part in various sporting competitions throughout 2014 and 2015. Prior to joining the Middlesbrough academy squad in 2015, he played for TIBS and Stockton Town. He attended Conyers School in Yarm, this led to him featuring in the eleventh episode in the first series  of the CBBC educational documentary series "Our School" in 2014, during this time he was in year 7, his first year in secondary school. Club career. On 1 July 2018, Wood signed professional terms with Middlesbrough. He would become the club's youngest ever player to make a professional appearance, at 16 years and 72 days, replacing Daniel Ayala in an EFL Cup tie against Notts County on 14 August 2018. On 1 February 2021, Wood joined League One side Crewe Alexandra on loan for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. He made his Crewe debut in a 2 -1 defeat at Swindon Town on 20 February 2021. On 31 August 2021, Wood moved north of the border to join Scottish Premiership club Hibernian on a season-long loan deal. On 16 October 2021, Wood made his debut for Hibernian, where he played the full game in a 3–0 loss against Dundee United. On 25 November 2021, it was announced that Wood had returned to parent club Middlesbrough for the remainder of his loan spell until January 2022, having only featured once for Hibernian. International career. Wood has represented England at U15, U16, U17 and U18 level. On 6  September 2021, Wood made his debut for the England U20s during a 6-1 victory over Romania U20s at St. George's Park. Style of play. Wood is known to be a pacey player and has previously played as a left-midfielder as a result of this. He recorded a 100m time of 13.07 seconds when he was aged 13.