With David Beckham and England Under 21 international Jay Bothroyd prospering abroad this season, TheFA.com has been looking back on past English players to have gone overseas. Next in the series is Tony Woodcock, who played in Germany for Cologne for nearly three seasons...

With David Beckham and England Under 21 international Jay Bothroyd prospering abroad this season, TheFA.com has been looking back on past English players to have gone overseas. Next in the series is Tony Woodcock, who played in Germany for Cologne for nearly three seasons...Tony Woodcock won a total of 42 caps for England between 1978 and 1986, scoring 16 goals. The highlight of his interbnational career was the Spain World Cup of 1982 where he was preferred to Kevin Keegan in the starting line-up for the crucial Second Phase game against the hosts.

Woodcock started his career at Allan Brown's Nottingham Forest, though it wasn't until the arrival of Brian Clough that Woodcock won a regular place in the side.

After seven happy years at the City Ground, Woodcock broke the German transfer record in October 1979 when he moved to FC Cologne for £500,000.

In just short of three years, Woodcock scored 28 goals in 81 League games as Cologne enjoyed a period of sustained success, though they never quite repeated the highs of their championship year of 1978.

When time came for Woodcock to return to England he chose Terry Neill's Arsenal where, in 131 League matches, he scored 56 goals.

Tony Woodcock 

Nationality: English
Date of Birth: 6 December 1955 
Place of Birth: Eastwood, Notts 
Height: 5' 11''
Weight: 11 08 
Clubs: Nottingham Forest, Cologne, Arsenal