Shaw Lane Aquaforce chairman Craig Wood has won his battle with cancer and is now hoping to raise £10,000 for Weston Park Hospital. Picture: White Rose Photography
At 42, Craig Wood was loving life as a family man, successful businessman and the proud chairman of a thriving football club.
The phrase, “you never know what is around the corner” sums up how his life was turned upside down in January when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
He was given the all-clear in June, but, he’s now hoping to repay those who helped him win his toughest battle as he’s aiming to raise £10,000 for Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield.
His club Shaw Lane Aquaforce are hosting a Sheffield Wednesday development team on Monday 8th September with all the proceeds going to the hospital.
The goal is ambitious, but, Wood is determined to repay them in a big way.
“I feel I will be forever in debt to Weston Park,” Craig says.
“I’m a Sheffield Wednesday fan and we have been trying to get a team down here for quite a while.
“With what happened to me this year and with Weston Park being great to me, I thought it was a chance to give something back.
“A good friend of mine contacted the club and told them my story and asked if they would be willing to send a side down.
“It has gathered momentum and there are a lot of Sheffield Wednesday fans on forums wanting to come down and help out.
“I set up a JustGiving account and set a target of £10,000. We don’t how many we’re going to get on the night, but the ground holds 2,000 so potentially we could get that £10,000 just in gate receipts.
“We’re also having raffles and auctions and some of the prizes include a Sheffield Wednesday match-day experience, tickets from Leeds Rhinos for a play-offs match and a signed Manchester United ball from the treble-winning season.”
His diagnosis was a huge shock to the system and deeply affected his ability to run Shaw Lane and his large plumbing firm Aquaforce – organisations that he has built up from nothing.
From the football club, “everyone rallied round and stepped up to the mark” and so did his employees at his business.
Looking back at when the news was broken to him, Craig said: “It was a massive bolt of the blue.
“We got promoted last season into the NCEL, my partner gave birth to twins last year so everything was great and fantastic.
“I found a lump around Christmas, but, didn’t think anything of it.
“I went to get it checked out and basically the doctor said it wasn’t good news.
“By that time, I had probably left it too long as it had spread to my lymph nodes in my stomach so I had to have intensive chemotherapy at Weston Park for three months.
“I was completely wiped out for three months.”
Danny Frost celebrates equalising for Shaw Lane Aquaforce in their decisive 2-2 draw with Knaresborough Town – a game which a “really poorly” Craig Wood gave a speech to the players beforehand
Craig has led Shaw Lane’s rapid rise up the football pyramid.
The team was originally a Sunday League team playing under a different name and Craig has bankrolled them from park pitches to playing in the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division.
Last year, the club were new to the NCEL, but under Craig Elliott for the last 13 games, Aquaforce successfully won promotion from Division One.
Unfortunately Craig had to miss most of those games due to his ill health. He did appear for the final match when promotion was effectively won and even made a speech to the players in the dressing room before the Knaresborough Town match.
“I was really poorly and I missed all the run-in except for the last game against Knaresborough when we basically needed a point,” he says.
“Football is a big part of life, but, putting things in perspective it is nothing compared to your family.
“Although it was a great achievement (winning promotion), the gloss was taken off because of what else was going on.”
Now his life is back to normality. He’s back running his business and doing all jobs at the football club and he’s hoping to see another successful season.
“I want to see us in the Conference long term,” he adds.
“This season I want us up there competing. I know it is difficult because there are three or four other teams that realistically can win this league.
“All we can do is keep winning our games.
“I think we have a fantastic side compared to last season. We are strong in all departments and he (Craig Elliott) has a fairly big squad, but, it is going to be hard to keep all happy.”
He’s got the start he probably wanted – three wins out of three – but as September starts, the priority is giving back to Weston Park and raising that £10,000.
You can donate to Craig’s JustGiving page HERE
Craig Wood was speaking to James Grayson