It looks as if one of the best players to have ever worn the Cork City shirt, and grace the League of Ireland fields, has finally hung up his boots after a long and decorated career. Billy Woods could've went out with a fairytale ending after Cork City won the FAI Cup Final last year, but new manager Alan Mathews persuaded him to stick around for this year, which turned out to be his final. Woods found it hard to work his way into Mathews's plans this year, even after financial crisis saw many City players leave the club to ease the financial burden, including Dave Mooney's transfer to Reading on the cheap. Woods managed to make only 5 appearances total, 4 in the league. He did end his career with Cork City's lone trophy so far this season, captaining City's youthful Munster Senior Cup side to the club's 16th title, and its first since 2005. The financial problems meant that Woods, one of the lone part-timers still left in City's squad, had to take a 70% pay cut on top of his already part-time salary, and it seems the monetary strain became too great. Woods works as a used-car salesman in the Cork town of Midleton. 

      Woods had his first stint at City from 1993-1995, winning Young Player of the Year in 94/95, before a move to Tranmere Rovers took him to Birkenhead. He earned 6 Ireland U21 caps from 1995-1996 for his efforts. He made just one appearance in his two years there, and was loaned out to Blackpool in his time there. He returned to the island with Irish Premier League side Portadown for the 97/98 season, but returned south of the border in 1998 and signed with Dublin outfit Shamrock Rovers.  It was in his first season at Rovers that he won his only silverware with the club, when they won the now-defunct Super Cup, which served as a curtain-raiser to the League of Ireland season. He enjoyed four years in Dublin, becoming one of Rovers's best and most well-known players.But City were able to lure him home, and the man who had once gave the Shed End the middle finger while at Rovers quickly earned back the respect of the City faithful. Woods played a vital role in City's 2005 title winning campaign, and also contributed significantly to the Rebel Army's triumph over Longford Town in the 2007 FAI Cup Final. City fans will also remember him for his heroic display against Cypriot side Apollon Limasoll in Champions League qualification. 

   To conclude, Woods was a player who wore his heart on his sleeve and never gave less then his all to the cause. He will be remembered by Cork City and Irish football fans as a true credit to the game in Ireland, a lasting symbol of the virtues of hard work and heart so often forgotten in today's world of football.

- Andrew McCarten