FA Cup: Liverpool fan Josh Woods ready to play against the Reds for Accrington
2025-01-10
Category: sports

Two months ago, Josh Woods was sitting in the Kop at Anfield cheering Liverpool to a Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen and singing You'll Never Walk Alone.Accrington Stanley's 24-year-old forward is a Liverpool fan who grew up idolising Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.He still watches them whenever he can but on Saturday, thanks to the FA Cup, he will get to share a pitch with his boyhood team.Woods will step out at Anfield with League Two Accrington when they take on the Premier League leaders in the third round.He was in the Liverpool end at Wembley to see the Reds beat Chelsea in the 2022 FA Cup final before returning to the national stadium when the two teams met in Carabao Cup final last February.Despite another Liverpool win, his trip to Wembley 11 months ago turned sour as he missed all the action because of problems getting into the ground., externalThere will be no access issues this weekend. Woods is expected to feature for the team 19th in League Two against the team six points clear at the top of the Premier League."When I go and watch Liverpool I always think to myself, 'I'd love to play at Anfield one day'," he tells BBC Sport. "Now it's about to happen. Dreams do come true."
Accrington Stanley, who are they?
Woods' love of Liverpool is partly down to his dad, Dale, who used to be a steward at Anfield, while brother Connor, 26, was once part of Liverpool's academy and now plays for Warrington Town in National League North.Saturday will not be the first time Woods, who was brought up in Skelmersdale, west Lancashire, has stepped foot on Liverpool's pitch.He remembers the time he was chased off the Anfield playing surface after watching his brother play an academy game."I was only five, I jumped over the wall and ran on," he laughs. "I was just running around in circles. My mum and dad were screaming at me to get off."Around the same time he had his picture taken with the Champions League trophy soon after Rafael Benitez's Liverpool overcame AC Milan in a dramatic 2005 final. Woods also recalls meeting Ian Rush, Liverpool's record scorer with 346 goals, when he was growing up."I was with my mum in Liverpool and got a picture with him," he says.Rush's name featured in an iconic 1980s television milk advert featuring two young Liverpool fans. One tells the other that Rush had told him that if he didn't drink milk, he would only be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley, who were in the Northern Premier League when the advert first aired.The other fan asks, "Accrington Stanley, who are they?", to which the first replies, "Exactly.""Yes, I've seen it," says Woods about the advert. "It's funny because each time I mention to someone I play for Accrington Stanley, they always bring that advert up."
A cut above the rest?
Woods was set for a career as a barber before he signed for Accrington in 2021 after being spotted playing for Skelmersdale-based team Clay Brow.He has been cutting hair since the age of 12 and used the money he earned to watch Liverpool."I started barbering, working as a Saturday lad in Skelmersdale," says Woods."I never thought I would be a professional footballer. I played for the school team but I was never good. I just wanted to cut hair and watch football. "I'd get the train from Ormskirk to Kirkdale and walk 15 minutes to Anfield. I loved watching Liverpool." It was only after Woods left school and started playing again with his friends that he realised he was much better at football."I remember having a race with one of the lads who was the fastest in our year at school and I beat him. I felt completely different in my mind and in my body."Woods developed his skills playing Sunday league and was about to go on trial at non-league Warrington Rylands when he was invited to train with Accrington, where he now wears the number 39 shirt.His love of cutting hair still continues though, with team-mates Liam Coyle and Ben Woods - no relation - on his list for a short back and sides before the big day at Anfield.
'A special day - but I've got a job to do'
Accrington's average League Two attendance this season is 2,434 but double that number are making the journey from east Lancashire to Anfield to cheer on John Doolan's underdogs."Liverpool are the best team in the world right now - top of the Premier League, top of the Champions League," adds Woods, whose reaction when he found out Accrington had been drawn against his beloved team went viral on social media.A clip of him jumping off his sofa and dancing around his living room has been viewed tens of thousands of times."I was in shock for the first hour and then all my emotions came out," he says about the draw. "Connor was with me and it got a bit emotional."We're both from non-league backgrounds and you don't ever think you're going to get a chance to play at Anfield."  
Accrington are facing a team who have lost just two of their 29 games this season. Meanwhile, the League Two club have lost 10 of their 23 league games."We had one or two bad results in December - we lost at home to Bromley and Salford," says Woods, whose middle name is Stanley after his grandad - not the team he currently plays for."But in the past two games we've managed to turn it around and we can enjoy this weekend. "We're going overnight and I want to take everything in from the journey to Liverpool to walking out at Anfield."It's going to be a special day. But we know we're there to do our jobs."  