Doncaster Rovers captain Richard Wood ends career on his own terms and on a golden high

It was only a passing statement made by Richard Wood on the Meadow Lane pitch last weekend. He said it with that big grin splashed across his face, the one we've all become well-accustomed to by now, as he proudly showed off his gold league winners' medal - surprisingly, the first of his career.

Perhaps we should all have read a bit more into it at the time though, rather than dismiss it as a throw-away remark. Because just four days later the 39-year-old would be formally calling it a day. After announcing his retirement from football, the centre-half has headed his last brick, made his last crunching tackle and won the fifth and final promotion of what's been a long and successful career.

He's managed to do something that very few - if anyone - have done, and unite the fanbases of three passionate South Yorkshire clubs that normally have little time for one another: Rovers, Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday.

A promotion with the Owls and Rovers book-ended his career but the undoubted highlight was an extended, success-laden spell with the Millers.

They are the supporters with whom he has most affinity but that shouldn't detract from the swell of support he's enjoyed in this latest and ultimately final chapter with Rovers.

Last summer there was a poignant moment when Wood, famously self-deprecating and eager to avoid the limelight if necessary, was the centre of attention in a friendly at the New York Stadium that doubled up as his testimonial after superb service to Rotherham.

He was the star attraction and it's clear from that day just how highly that particular fanbase regard him. There's murmurs he'll end up back there in the not-too-distant future and you wouldn't be surprised it he does.

Make no mistake though, Wood has also been a huge part of Doncaster's story over the last two years. One of the first things Grant McCann did when he returned to the club in the summer of 2023 was ring Wood up and enquire as to his willingness to join the big Rovers reset.

He accepted the challenge but that first half-season didn't go to plan for anyone. Wood played just seven league games between August and January, winning just once.

Then came 'that' resurgence, starting at Sutton. That coincided with the skipper's return from injury and we all know the rest.

Sadly, it wasn't to be in 2023-24 but McCann, Wood and everyone were determined to go one better this time around. Sadly for Wood, injury had other ideas for the veteran.

After sustaining an ankle knock in the very first game of pre-season at Stamford, Wood ploughed on but the pain got too much. After an early season loss down at Newport he would go through a tumultuous period that involved three operations and six months in the treatment room as he tried, mostly in vain, to get to the bottom of the problem.

His eventual comeback would be brief, lasting just six games but he played his part and ensured Rovers were unbeaten in those half-dozen outings.

Opening up about the struggles he'd had with this troublesome injury he told the Free Press in March how a diagnosis from a specialist proved vital in avoiding any lasting damage. It also probably made his mind up in terms of knowing that the end of his career was nigh.

"I knew it wasn't right," he said. "And it wouldn't have just been my football career that would have been over. I'd have not been able to walk properly for the rest of my life."

In the end he chose to go out on his own terms and, crucially, before any kind of lasting legacy was made on the quality of his life. Even in the final weeks of the season, when he probably knew that the game was up, he didn't let the mask slip.

He was still cheering his teammates from the sidelines and cajoling them over the line even if he wasn't lacing up his boots.

He showed his class right to the end, by insisting on Owen Bailey lifting the trophy after that finale success at Notts County last weekend. The vice-skipper has been a huge part of Rovers' success and Wood had no issue in affording him that honour.

"It was only fitting that he did that. It's not about me. The team comes first," he said, in a typically courteous response that we've now come to expect.

Wood conducted himself excellently throughout his career. He readily and almost always was at pains to point out that he was never the most gifted footballer. He was never about that.

In conversation with this newspaper just two weeks ago, he repeated the stance: "I'm bang average and I'll readily admit that. But I know what I'm good at and that's leading a team and helping others play well and progress their careers."

Football has been good to Wood. He has earned rewards both tangibly in the form of five promotion medals and intangibly through supporters' love and respect. If he does decide to stay in the game, then wherever he ends up you can only see him being a success.

He may well regard himself as a bang average footballer, but everyone else only looks at him as a top class bloke.