Ross County was a long way from home for Gary Woods but it ended up becoming a huge part of his life.
With turmoil behind the scenes at his then-club Leyton Orient, Woods headed north after a conversation with his namesake Martin, who revealed County were on the lookout for a goalkeeper.
What may have initially been an escape route turned out to be an unforgettable journey for Woods and his family. As well as winning the League Cup with County in 2016, Woods’ daughter Aurora was born in the Highlands not long before the memorable day out at Hampden.
“She was born there, so up there is always going to have a big part in myself and my partner’s lives,” he said. “It wasn’t that long before the cup final.
“We had her on a Thursday and we had a quarter-final in the Scottish Cup against Dundee United on the Saturday.
“It’s a really special place for us.”
Woods was brought up to Dingwall in September 2015, as competition for Scott Fox. Both were new arrivals that summer
“I didn’t know much about the club when I joined,” added Woods. “We had some strange scenarios going on Leyton Orient; Barry Hearn had sold it to an Italian fella (Franceso Becchetti) and it was just a disaster.
“A lot of the guys they’d signed the year before, they were trying to force out and wouldn’t let me go to an English club.
“I knew Martin Woods and Andrew Davies from playing in England. I ended up speaking to Woodsy and he said ‘we need a keeper’. I didn’t know where Ross County was, anything about the club.
“Jim McIntyre rang me and I decided to go. You get on the Google Maps – ‘where is that?!’ – and I went up for a couple of days before joining. I thought ‘this is so far away’.
“Because I knew we had a lot of English players and the level they’d played at, I knew we had a good team. But I didn’t really have any knowledge of the teams in the league.”
Fox had a number of injury concerns that season, which allowed Woods to play more often. After his heroics in the semi-final against Celtic – keeping out a Leigh Griffiths penalty – Fox was sidelined for the final, allowing Woods to start.
“We ended up balancing it out, playing an equal amount of games,” he said. “Me and Scott still speak now – we had a good relationship. Anywhere I’ve been, I’ve always got on with the other goalkeepers and people think it’s strange, because we’re all fighting for one position. But it’s part and part of the business.
“I had an injury scare two days before the final. We were doing crossing drills and the big inflatable mannequins were filled with water and sand at the bottom. I fell on it and my ankle blew up. I nearly didn’t play.
“I think I found out later on I’d got away with one, as I’d fractured a bit on the front of my foot. There’s not many times you get to play in a final so there was no chance I was going to miss that for a swollen ankle.”
County had periods in the game where they found themselves under pressure but there was a belief, according to Woods, they could get the job done.
“There was an underlying confidence – Hibs were in the league below but going really well. On the day we had confidence within us. We had a good squad with a lot of experience in it.
“The majority of the stadium was filled up with Hibs fans. We had a section in the corner; it almost felt like an away game. We nicked the winner and you don’t realise what you achieved until you look back.
“Everyone thinks it’s little old Ross County. What we achieved that year – we finished in the top six and won the League Cup, which is a great achievement.
“It’s credit to Roy MacGregor and what he’s built up there. It’s a big passion of his. He puts his money in and gets people to go up there. The facilities and what the club do around the place is brilliant.”