When 17 years old, Woods joined Nottingham Forest as an apprentice in 1976,[3] initially as back-up for John Middleton,[5] then Peter Shilton.

[citation needed] He was part of an influx of English talent brought in by Souness, which also included Terry Butcher and Graham Roberts.

From November 1986 to January 1987 he set a British record by playing 1196 consecutive minutes of competitive football without conceding a goal.

[12][16] The run was ended at Ibrox on 31 January 1987 when Adrian Sprott scored the only goal for Hamilton Academical in the 70th minute of a Scottish Cup tie.

In the 1991 close season, new Rangers manager Walter Smith replaced Woods with Scottish international Andy Goram.

In October 1996, Graeme Souness, now manager at Southampton, negotiated his loan from Colorado Rapids as cover for Dave Beasant, with a view to a permanent transfer.

When at Rangers Woods received his second start in his fifth cap in a 2–0 Wembley win over Yugoslavia that inched England further towards 1988 European Championships qualification.

Woods came on as a substitute for Shilton twice in 1987 and started two matches: a European Championships qualifier against Turkey and a goalless draw against Scotland at Hampden Park in the Rous Cup.

By now, another goalkeeper had emerged as a potential successor to the ageing Shilton, with QPR's David Seaman receiving a first cap in a draw against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.

However, Woods was still regarded by Robson as his primary understudy for Shilton, who had, by now, earned his 100th cap and was about to break Bobby Moore's record of 108.

Woods did not play in the World Cup, Robson choosing to keep Shilton in the side for his 125th and final cap for England in the third place play-off match against Italy after their semi-final defeat.

By summer 1991, Woods had accumulated 24 caps as England made steady progress through their qualification for the 1992 European Championships, unbeaten in six matches with three clean sheets and conceding only three goals.

Then, after a defeat against the USA in Boston during a summer tour in 1993, Taylor dropped Woods and, after trying two other keepers, installed Seaman in the side.

In July 2013 Woods left Everton to take the goalkeeping coach position at Manchester United, following the same move by first team manager David Moyes.

[26] Parallel to being a club coach, in 2011 Woods was employed by the United States national team, linking up with Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.